Jets coach Scott Arniel understands that Connor Hellebuyck wants to play as many games as possible, but revealed he wants to keep his total number under 60. Since the 2010-11 season, <a href='https://illegalcurve.com/winnipeg-jets-head-coach-scott-arniel-provides-insight-into-the-goalie-plan-discussions-for-the-2025-26-season/' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>only once has a Stanley Cup champion used a goaltender to have more than 60 games of regular-season work</a>. The only exception was Jonathan Quick in the 2011-12 season, when he played 69 games before riding with the Kings to a championship. Otherwise, average-winning goaltenders generally begin the playoffs with 38-55 game workloads. Connor Hellebuyck has been the lone exception in Winnipeg. He has played 60-plus games for six of nine seasons since he became the Jets starter during the 2016-17 season, all four of those before last season. <h3>Connor Hellebuyck Has Never Been Able to Make it to the Stanley Cup Finals</h3> His resume is great: three Vezina Trophies, a Hart Trophy, and back-to-back William Jennings awards. But for all his greatness, the Jets have not made it past the Western Conference Final since 2018. The issue is whether it catches up to him in the playoffs after all the heavy regular-season lifting. In the last three seasons, Hellebuyck's goals saved above average were in the upper grouping during the regular season but in the lower grouping in the playoffs. His best playoff stretch was when he played in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, when there were fewer games on his agenda. Head coach Scott Arniel discussed the issue on NHL Network Radio, recognizing the peculiar demands faced by goalies but also the difficulty of a condensed schedule with the upcoming Olympics on the line. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/SiriusXMNHL/status/1973776236049822140'><div style='border:1px solid #CCCCCC;border-radius:10px;padding:20px;width:300px;'>Loading from Twitter ...</div></a></blockquote></div> We haven't had the official talk before opening game, which we will have in the next week. He keeps pushing for 82 games. He wants to play every single game, and I really tell everybody that listens, I stay out of the goalie business. That's Wade Flaherty and him and Eric Comrie. But in this one, certainly with this year and what's kinda going on, that could be - I'm not sure the exact number - but that could be ten games in the Olympics if he ends up playing them all. It's a workload, and again, like I mentioned earlier, four games a week - it is something that we seriously have to look at. And if we want to play well into June to make that run to the Stanley Cup, I need a guy that's going to be able to be fresh for that whole stretch. It is something that we've talked about a little bit, kinda nibbled at around the edges. He still wants to play them all - he's just a competitor, and he just wants to be in there - but we still have to look at it, what's best for us. Eric Comrie can be a guy that can step in and win us hockey games just as well. We're going to have that conversation next week. I would love to get it under 60. I don't lay out the whole year, but we do lay out a month. I sit down with him, and we lay out a month and kinda play it that way, with Wade, and go from there with both goaltenders. - Scott Arniel The inference was obvious: conserving Hellebuyck's minutes might be as crucial as maximizing them. For the Winnipeg Jets, <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/winnipeg-jets/connor-hellebuyck-discusses-his-stanley-cup-playoff-failures-and-looking-ahead-to-the-2025-26-season' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>winning the regular season is not the only objective anymore</a>. If the Jets are to ride on Hellebuyck's unbelievable play all the way into the postseason, they'll require the means to keep him fresh and available in the spring. The true test will not be in October or February but in April and on.