In a perfect world, Connor Hellebuyck would be a Hart Trophy candidate

Goaltenders are hardly ever considered as Hart Trophy nominees, but Connor Hellebuyck’s 2019-20 season in Winnipeg should put him in the conversation.

Hockey fans are very familiar by now with the Hart Trophy archetype. More often than not, the nominees for the Hart Trophy in any given hockey season are at the top of the league in points and goals, an easily quantifiable way to determine how valuable a player is to his team.

However, that way of thinking often excludes defensemen and goaltenders from the list of potential candidates. Much like how the Selke Trophy has been artificially narrowed down to the center position instead of encompassing all forwards, the Hart Trophy too has become focused on one specific type of player over the years.

Which is a shame, considering Connor Hellebuyck’s 2019-20 season is more than worthy of a Hart Trophy look, given his impact on the Winnipeg Jets this season. Though the NHL is in the midst of a season pause due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Jets were in the first wild card spot in the Western Conference at the time of the stoppage with a 37-28-6 record and 80 points in 71 games played.

Much of that was due to the play of Hellebuyck, who had a .922 save percentage and 31 wins in 58 games played this season for Winnipeg. Hellebuyck is tied for first with Carey Price for the most games played for a goaltender this season, and has faced the most shots against (1,796), made the most saves (1,656) and has the most shutouts (6) of any netminder in the NHL.

While Hellebuyck grades out extremely well by the eye test and regular statistics, he shines when put under the advanced statistics microscope. Of goaltenders that have played more than 1,500 minutes at five-on-five in the 2019-20 season, Hellebuyck is second overall in goals saved above average, which grades out at 14.33 according to Natural Stat Trick.

Only Tuukka Rask is above Hellebuyck in GSAA at five-on-five, but the Winnipeg goaltender has 846 more minutes played and has faced 587 more shots than his Boston Bruins compatriot.

Maybe the most impressive feat Hellebuyck has managed this year has been his near-career high numbers in a season where the Jets defensive corps was highly questionable coming into the 2019-20 season. In the offseason, Winnipeg’s defense was gutted with the loss of Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot via free agency, trade or extenuating circumstances.

Then, during the season, the Jets had various injuries run through their defense, which forced the team to cycle through defenders that at one point, caused the team to not have a single defenseman that was in their top eight last season in terms of minutes played on the ice for them in a game this year.

Connor Hellebuyck’s impact on the Winnipeg Jets

Goaltenders can often make or break a team’s performance throughout a season, and what Hellebuyck did with a fractured blue line that was made up of AHL talent for good chunks of the year is commendable. Hellebuyck likely even saved head coach Paul Maurice’s job this season thanks to his stellar play that has kept the team afloat and in a playoff race, which then landed the coach a multi-year extension in February.

Had Hellebuyck not stood on his head for most of the 2019-20 season, the Jets would be no where close to a playoff spot and Maurice is likely the seventh head coach to be dismissed this year. However, thanks to Hellebuyck’s heroics in just his fifth year of NHL play, the Jets sit in a good position in the West, with the possible hope to even move into third place in the Central past the Dallas Stars.

Of course, that is if the NHL does resume play later this year, but even with the possible expanded playoff scenario, the Jets would have made the postseason with ease despite the team’s struggles offensively and with injuries.

It’s more than unfair that goaltenders are often overlooked for Hart Trophy consideration considering their importance to a team overall. In 2016-17, Sergei Bobrovsky was a runner up with Columbus while Connor McDavid took the crown. During the 2014-15 season, Price did win the Hart Trophy, but only seven different goaltenders have won the award since the 1923–24 season.

Whenever the NHL’s awards are given out for the 2019-20 season, Hellebuyck will no doubt be overlooked by the — also incredibly deserving in their own rights — Leon Draisaitl‘s and Nathan MacKinnon‘s of the hockey world. However, in a perfect world, Hellebuyck would be in consideration for a Hart Trophy nomination no doubt.

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