The reigning Stanley Cup champions were trying to make a blockbuster.
Sportnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday Headlines that the Carolina Hurricanes made a big effort to trade for Connor Hellebuyck, and they were willing to get creative to make a deal happen.
"They tried to reach out to other teams to figure out forwards that the Jets might have interest in, and they were going to trade for those players, and flip that player to the Jets to get Hellebuyck," Friedman said.
A deal never came to fruition, as Hellebuyck was sent to the New Jersey Devils on Friday for prospect Alexander Command, goalie Nico Daws, forwards Dawson Mercer and Nick Bjugstad and a pair of draft picks.
Friedman added that the Jets wanted "immediate forward help" in the return for their long-time goalie, and the Hurricanes weren't willing to include players like Seth Jarvis, Logan Stankoven or Jackson Blake in a trade.
So the Hurricanes tried other avenues, but were beaten to the punch by the Devils.
Losing out on the Hellebuyck sweepstakes means Carolina will continue to roll with their goalie tandem of Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov.
Each netminder has started six games this season, with Kochetkov outperforming Bussi in both goals-against average and save percentage.
The Hurricanes entered Saturday's game against the St. Louis Blues first in the Metropolitan Division with an 8-2-2 record.
