What Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck learned in 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Winnipeg Jets did not make it out of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Winnipeg won the Presidents’ Trophy as the best regular-season team in the NHL. However, they had a bit of a tough time in the postseason. And a major reason for this was the struggles of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.

Hellebuyck was benched three times in the first round against the St. Louis Blues. He did not buy a save away from home in that series, but he did well enough at home. As a result, the Jets won the series in seven. Against the Dallas Stars, Hellebuyck started to settle in. Especially at home, where he posted back-to-back shutouts at home.

Unfortunately, they lost the series in six games. Following the postseason exit, the Winnipeg goalie discussed what went wrong. And he admitted that he may have done a bit too much when preparing for the postseason.

“I think what I learned the most is you can’t overtweak your game,” Hellebuyck said on Tuesday, via NHL.com’s Darrin Bauming. “You just can’t abandon your game. Maybe make some tweaks here and there, but nothing huge. Nothing drastic. And you’ve just got to go out there and have fun and realize that bad bounces do happen and sometimes, there is a little bit of a luck factor in hockey. Just trying to control that chaos.”

Overthinking the game got him away from what he was comfortable with. Slowing things down and remembering how to have fun on the ice helped the Jets star recalibrate. And that factored into his improved performance in the second round.

“If you start thinking the game and start overthinking the game, then you lose the ‘it’ factor,” Hellebuyck said, via Bauming. “Once I started having fun again … the level of fun that I’m accustomed to, that’s when my game got good and I just started playing. That’s what I am going to live and die by.”