Devils Land Hellebuyck, and Their Stanley Cup Odds Shorten to 14-1

Hellebuyck Trade: What New Jersey Gave Up and Why

The New Jersey Devils acquired goaltender Connor Hellebuyck from the Winnipeg Jets on Friday, per ESPN's Ryan S. Clark. Winnipeg gets forwards Dawson Mercer and Nick Bjugstad, goaltender Nico Daws, prospect center Alexander Command (the 12th pick in the 2026 draft), a 2027 seventh-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick.

ESPN reports Hellebuyck is a three-time Vezina Trophy winner who won the Hart Trophy in 2025, is 33 and is signed for four more years at $8.5 million annually. It also notes he missed training camp because of a suspension, so an adjustment period is likely.

The case for the move is in New Jersey's numbers. ESPN says the Devils came into the weekend with the second-fewest high-danger chances allowed per 60 minutes and a 59.74% shot share at 5-on-5, behind only Carolina. They still sat in the last East wild-card spot, with a .880 team save percentage that tied for 23rd.

Devils Stanley Cup Odds and the Kings Line: What the Market Did

DraftKings shortened New Jersey's Stanley Cup odds from 25-1 to 14-1 once the trade broke, and made the Devils the fourth-best price in the East at +700 and -400 to make the playoffs, per ESPN as of October 23 at 1:52 PM ET. For Saturday's 3:30 PM ET home game against the Kings, ESPN's feed shows no movement on the side.

Those figures are per ESPN's odds feed as of October 24 at 9:10 AM ET. The feed does not say why a line moved, so what follows is our reading.

Our Read: Hellebuyck Fixes a Real Gap, but the Price Already Knows

• The fit is genuine. A team that owns the puck and limits good chances but leaks goals on the saves it does face is the textbook case for a star goalie, so this is a targeted fix and not a splash.
• The Cup odds jump may be too tidy. Going from 25-1 to 14-1 prices in the best case. One goalie does not change a roster that still had to give up scoring depth, and Hellebuyck has no camp behind him.
• Saturday's flat line says little. We cannot tell from the sources we read whether Hellebuyck plays, so an unchanged moneyline could mean the market sees no change tonight or is waiting on a confirmed starter.
• Winnipeg's side is murkier. The Jets are 25th in goals per game at 2.60 and the return helps scoring only at the margin, while they have lost four straight. Their cost is a goalie, and the evidence on how that plays out is mixed.

What to Watch After the Hellebuyck Trade

• Whether Hellebuyck starts Saturday against Los Angeles or New Jersey waits.
• The Devils' team save percentage over the next ten games against that .880 mark.
• How Mercer and Daws are used in Winnipeg, and whether the Jets' four-game skid ends.
• Whether the Cup price drifts back out if the early results are shaky.

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