I wrote yesterday about the leverage Connor Hellebuyck holds over the Winnipeg Jets, and now the rest of the hockey world is catching up. The long-time Jets goaltender has publicly requested a trade, and MSN broke down the essentials of where things stand. Let me give you my version, because I've watched this movie before and I know how the third act usually goes.

First, the man can still play. Hellebuyck isn't some fading asset asking out before the decline sets in. He's been a Vezina-caliber presence in that Winnipeg net for years and goaltenders of that caliber don't hit the trade block often. When one does, it's an event.

Second, the leverage question cuts both ways. The wrinkle nobody in Winnipeg wants to talk about is that Hellebuyck was heading into the final year of his deal when this request went public. A goaltender a year from unrestricted free agency isn't trading teams as a locked-in cornerstone, he's trading teams as a negotiation. Any club that acquires him is really acquiring a window to convince him to stay, and that changes the math on what Winnipeg can demand in return.

Third, I'd expect the suitors to line up fast. There are always three or four contenders with goaltending questions every fall, and my guess is they pick up the phone anyway, because a genuine number one goaltender might be the hardest thing to find in this sport after a franchise center. That's my barstool ranking, not a spreadsheet, but I'll stand on it.

Fourth, timing matters enormously. If the Jets wait too long, they're trading a rental at a discount instead of an extended cornerstone at a premium. Every week that slips by, the asking price could drop. Winnipeg knows it, the bidders know it, and that's where this gets uncomfortable.

Fifth, and this is the part nobody wants to say out loud in Manitoba: this trade has a chance to reshape two franchises. The team that lands him, especially if it can sign him to an extension, gets exactly what a Stanley Cup contender dreams about. The Jets get whatever comes back, and whatever comes back will shape the next decade in Winnipeg one way or the other.

And let me tell you, goalies carry franchises differently than skaters. Patrick Roy forced his way out of Montreal in 1995 and the Avalanche won a Cup months later. I'm not saying history repeats, but it sure does rhyme, and somebody in this bidding war is about to hum a very familiar tune.