TWINCITIES.COM’s Chad Graff report via Twitter the Minnesota Wild today sent a third-round pick in 2015 to the Arizona Coyotes for goaltender Devan Dubnyk.
Devan Dubnyk traded to the MInnesota Wild.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: And the well-traveled Dubnyk is on the move again, joining his fifth team in the past two seasons. The 28-year-old goalie managed to resurrect his career with the Coyotes, posting a 9-5-2 record with a 2.72 GAA and .916 SP with one shutout.
The Wild have been in the market for a couple of weeks now for a goaltender. Darcy Kuemper struggled prior to being recently sidelined by a lower-body injury, Josh Harding’s career is pretty much over thanks to multiple sclerosis and Niklas Backstrom is no longer capable of being a reliable starting goalie.
With their playoff hopes fading, GM Chuck Fletcher will hope Dubnyk can provide some stability between the pipes as the Wild attempt to save their season. Fletcher didn’t have to give up much to land Dubnyk, which is probably because landing a better solution would’ve cost more in salary coming in and return heading out.
As for Coyotes, they’re stuck with struggling starter Mike Smith thanks to his expensive long-term contract. His move could signal management’s acceptance the season is lost and it’s time to commence a rebuild.
Agreed that this move signals rebuild in Arizona… and probably that they tried to get rid of Smith, to no avail. Even still, this move makes little sense to me. Better to keep the affordable Dubnyk and play him more, even if that means having a very expensive backup. Or even cut Smith in the off-season and hope a tandem of Dubnyk and an affordable pickup (Markstrom?) could help more, without much expense.
Because how does a 3rd round pick really help with a rebuild?
Because it should be noted that Smith’s numbers for the last two years weren’t this bad… but they were certainly not great, either. Maybe time to cut bait!
saying this signals the coyotes will commence a rebuild is like saying the sens will commence a rebuild. the coyotes have been rebuilding for years now. they have quite a few decent prospects and they can continue to build on that. the difference between a rebuild in arizona and a rebuild in edmonton is that the Maloney and tippet have been able to ice a failry successful team through it all. this is merely continuing the rebuild. they will part ways with some guy and overpay int the summer to get up to the cap. it’s a change of the guard, much like what is happening in ottawa. except they aren’t kidding themselves in Arizona like in ottawa and are willing to part with guys(looking at you BM, Phillips, Neil, and hopefully greening, legwand, michalek, part with some of those guys if you can and stop dreaming of a playoff round. I know some people are going to scream bloody hell but Neil and Phillips are at an age that they won’t be part of the solution and the might as well bring back a return and have a chance to go for a cup.
If Smith continues on as he has played his contract will be an anchor. Long term contracts r risky to say the least. A Clarkson contract simply is mind boggling. GM’s desperation incl some markets need to overpay hinder some teams. Drafting smart n shorter term n big contracts r necessary IMO
I don’t know I’m skeptical. some goalies can have bad years, i believe mike smith can turn it around. obviously there’s no guarantee that he can but he’s shown so many times that he can be outstanding one year is going to convince me he’s done.
well, there go the Craig Anderson to Minnesota rumors/suggestions.
This move signifies tank in full effect. Their backup goalie, Lee, is an ECHL guy….
i’d rather see mcdavid in arizona then get ruined in EDM.
And he isn’t very good at that !!
So Wild fans can be satisfied that the cavalry coming to save their playoff hopes is personified by Devan Dubnyk? Brutal…so when they go 3-6-1 in their next ten games, maybe somebody will get fired.
If GM Chuck Fletcher had brought in Ryan Miller in free agency rather than Thomas Vanek, Minnesota wouldn’t be in this mess. This team is too talented to be struggling to make the playoffs…and losing Ryan Suter to a two game suspension isn’t going to help snap the five-game skid the team is on.
Very surprised the team didn’t make a serious effort to get a Cup-winner like Cam Ward or Antti Niemi, (who are both rumored to be available). To cheap out and get Dubnyk, who very recently was waived through the NHL, is disappointing.
The old adage, “You get what you pay for” seems to ring true in this case.
My prediction; Minnesota misses the playoffs. Fletcher and head coach Mike Yeo are fired at season’s end. Deservedly.
Can’t disagree with this – what does vanek have for stats this season? Imagine Miller on this team right now… they would be a MUCH better team.
Amazing to say the least that anyone spent what they did on Vanek after his meltdown in the playoffs… again…
This strikes me as the Wild calling around and saying what can we get for a 3rd round pick and everyone but Arizona was certain they could leverage the return up.
In other words, Dubnyk was the best they could get for the price they offered at the moment they decided to pull the trigger on a deal.
What a waste of a third round pick. The guy moves from team to team because he can’t play. Go through the history of goalies leaving Phoenix/Arizona. They have good stats with their defensive system then crash and burn when they leave.
Minnesota needs to figure that out and fast. They are in the playoff rush right now even without a goalie,