The New Jersey Devils are playing in Winnipeg on Tuesday, but Connor Hellebuyck isn’t. So what does this have to do with the Detroit Red Wings?

Plenty, if you know anything about the history of Detroit goaltenders going back to face their old teams.

Hellbuyck pulled a Dylan Larkin this season. He quit on his team, the Jets, demanding a trade. They made his wish come true, moving the Vezina and Hart Trophy-winning netminder to the Devils.

In his first chance to face his old team in his former home, Hellebuyck is sitting this one out. The team even put out a press release giving him an excuse not to play.

Joseph did the same with the Red Wings

Longtime Red Wings watchers will recall that during the 2001-02 season, when Detroit was scheduled to play in Buffalo against the Sabres, the previous team of Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek, they planned to start backup goalie Manny Legace. It was to be Hasek’s first appearance in Buffalo since the Sabres dealt him to Detroit in the summer of 2001.

Upon discovering this plan, Hasek went storming into coach Scotty Bowman’s office, demanding that he play in Buffalo. Competitor that he was, Hasek didn’t want anyone thinking he was ducking that game.

That spring, after posting six playoff shutouts and backstopping the Wings to a Stanley Cup title, Hasek announced his retirement. To replace him, the Red Wings signed UFA Curtis Joseph from the Toronto Maple Leafs. They chose to go with him over another UFA goalie, future Hall of Famer Ed Belfour.

Early in the 2002-03 season, the Red Wings were in Toronto for a Saturday Hockey Night In Canada game against the Maple Leafs. There’s no doubt that the story of the night would’ve been Joseph’s return to face the Leafs.

Only he didn’t play. The Wings again opted to go with Legace. And unlike Hasek, Joseph was fine with this arrangement. In fact, team sources told me at the time he was utterly delighted by this turn of events.

That spring, the Red Wings were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Anaheim Ducks. That same team source would later say that the way the Toronto scenario played out, they knew they’d signed the wrong goalie.

The Devils are in Winnipeg tonight. Hellebuyck isn’t playing, and Devils management isn’t worried about that.

Maybe they should be.