30 fewer goals? What Clear Sight Analytics says about Hellebuyck’s fit in New Jersey

So, what goes into that calculation and what does it mean?

If you’re new to Clear Sight Analytics or goalie analytics in general, we’d suggest getting started by re-visiting our primer of how the company measures shot quality.

In terms of how the Crease Swap tool works, it basically inserts Hellebuyck’s performance over the previous two seasons on every type of scoring chance into the number of those specific chances the new team — in this case, New Jersey — gave up in that particular season, and then lets you compare the results with each goalie.

In this case, it made sense to select Markstrom as the Devils No.1, and that meant a wider discrepancy for 2025-26 because it was a down season for Markstrom statistically, in part because he tried to play through injury more than once, while Hellebuyck’s statistics were based on a combination of his own “down” season in 2025-26 (more on that below) and his Hart- and Vezina-Trophy winning performance with Winnipeg in 2024-25.

Interestingly, despite the wide swing, Hellebuyck did not come out ahead in every category, and it will be important for the Devils to mind some of those differences defensively.

The caveat, of course, is that these numbers don’t necessarily translate directly from one team to another. Sure, Clear Sight Analytics measures the results on six different types of screen chances, for example, but that does not account for how the Devils might manage screen chances differently than Winnipeg and whether or not Hellebuyck, who is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, play-reading goalies in the game, has to adjust his own tactics.

Just because it isn’t perfect doesn’t mean it’s not worth a deeper dive, however. Clear Sight Analytics adds unparalleled levels of context when it comes to the defensive environment and goalie’s historical results on those specific chance types, so let’s take a closer look.