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NHL Notebook: Jets will be without Connor Hellebuyck for four to six weeks
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Nov 22, 2025, 16:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 22, 2025, 15:31 EST
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The reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners will be without their best player.
On Friday morning, numerous sources reported that netminder Connor Hellebuyck will be out of action for four to six weeks to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery.
Anyway you slice it, this is a big blow for the Winnipeg Jets. Not only did Hellebuyck win his third Vezina Trophy last season, but he also became the first netminder in a decade to win the Hart Memorial Trophy, just the third goalie to do so since the turn of the millennium.
That was thanks to a .925 save percentage and 2 goals against average in 63 games, helping the Jets win the Presidents’ Trophy, the first in their history. Of course, the netminder had a rough post-season, as he has the last three seasons, but he’s still among the league’s best netminders in 2025-26. So far this season, the 32-year-old has a .913 save percentage and 2.51 goals against average in 14 games played.
The Jets will turn to Eric Comrie for the foreseeable future. Comrie, 30, was drafted in the second round of the 2013 draft by the Jets and bounced around the league for half a decade before returning to the Jets. Last season, he played a career-high 20 games with a .914 save percentage and 2.39 goals against average in 20 games. Thus far in 2025-26, Comrie has an .899 save percentage and 2.84 goals against average.
So far this season, the Jets are 12-8-0 through 20 games, occupying the final Wild Card spot.

Alex Ovechkin moves into 10th all-time in points

Alex Ovechkin’s historic career continues, as he passed Joe Sakic to move into 10th all-time for points in a career.
The Washington Capitals’ captain was able to do so with a four-point night in the Capitals’ 8-4 win over the Montréal Canadiens on Thursday. He opened the game with a power play goal, added an assist in the second period, and scored two more goals in the third for his 34th career hat trick.
As it stands, Ovechkin now has 1,643 points in 1,512 games. Next up on the list for the “Great Eight” to pass is Sidney Crosby, who has 1,708 points. For non-active players, Ovechkin has the chance to pass Mario Lemieux’s 1,723 point mark, but it’d take quite the effort with only three quarters of the season remaining.
Even if Ovechkin can’t surpass Lemieux (it’s the final season on Ovechkin’s contract), the Russian forward will go down as the most prolific goal scorer in NHL history. Through 21 games this season, Ovechkin has 10 goals and 20 points as a 40-year-old. Last season, he broke Wayne Gretzky’s record for most goals in a career, and he’s continued to build on it as he now has 907 career goals.

Mikko Rantanen fined

Another notable goal scorer has been in the news lately, but not for the right reasons. Mikko Rantanen was fined $2,000 for embellishment.
This fine came on an incident in Nov. 11’s game against the Ottawa Senators, where the Dallas Stars’ forward ran into the goalie, dove, and took the goalie to the ice with him in an attempt to draw a penalty.
That’s not the only thing Rantanen has been in the news for, as he received a five-minute major for boarding New York Islanders’ defenceman Alexander Romanov on Tuesday. No disciplinary action came from that incident.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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