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This article was published 27/11/2015 (1762 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Connor Hellebuyck appears poised to play his first NHL game today.

The 22-year-old, picked in the fifth round of the 2012 draft, will face the Minnesota Wild this afternoon at Xcel Energy Center.

Called up earlier in the week to replace the injured Ondrej Pavelec, Hellebuyck has one-plus seasons of pro experience under his belt since winning college hockey’s Mike Richter Award as the goalie of the year while playing with UMass-Lowell in 2013-14.

Hellebuyck is only 2-7-1 with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose this season, but has a goals against average of 2.41 and a save percentage of .927 in the AHL.

Last season, he played more than any other AHL goalie, putting up numbers of 28-22-5, 2.58 and .921 for the St. John’s IceCaps in the AHL.

The native of Commerce, Mich., was also excellent in last spring’s World Championships, helping the U.S. to a bronze medal at the tournament.

Asked Thursday about the possibility of playing in front of Hellebuyck in the coming days, Jets winger Drew Stafford said it would be exciting for everyone.

"Guys wait their whole lives," Stafford said. "Whenever they start playing hockey, this is their goal, their dream, to get in.

"Goaltender, that’s probably the hardest position to make it. So for him to get his opporutnity here, well, it’s unfortunate what happened to Pav but that being said, if he does get a chance to go in, we have full faith in him he’s going to play a great game for us.

"It’s exciting for him. Whenever he finds out, I’m sure he’ll do the same thing everyone else does — talk to family and call your friends and make sure they’re watching."