Hellebuyck holdout twist: suspension ending Friday

Connor Hellebuyck has played the reverse Uno card.

What we don’t know is if he has any intention of coming back to friendly Manitoba or if this is simply the latest attempt to put the Winnipeg Jets’ feet to the flames in an effort to move him to an American market.

Prior to puck drop on Saturday afternoon, when the Jets were getting set to host the Carolina Hurricanes, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported that the three-time Vezina Trophy winner and one-time Hart Trophy winner informed the organization he wanted to return on Oct. 2 and that his holdout has now shifted to a team-imposed suspension that can officially come to an end Friday.

The Jets were able to extend his suspension (for failing to report to training camp) because of a clause in the collective bargaining agreement, Article 15.13, subsection (c)(v), which reads: “If a player who has not received permission to be absent from training camp returns to the club, he shall be subject to a disciplinary suspension of reasonable length.”

Due to the delicate nature of the subject, the Jets declined to make general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff available for questions on Saturday, while Hellebuyck’s agent, Ray Petkau, did not respond to a message seeking comment.

The report from Friedman was revealing, since there had been no public indication that Hellebuyck had taken any steps to end his holdout, which was the first in the NHL in roughly a quarter century.

That’s part of what makes the next steps in this process so blurry.

Resolution in the form of a trade would be the easiest to unravel, though the market to acquire Hellebuyck has been anything but robust to this point.

Might this latest pressure point — even if it’s one the Jets were already aware of — help to expedite a trade prior to next weekend?

Several league sources believe that’s part of the reason Hellebuyck ended his holdout.