The San Jose Sharks have acquired goalie Devan Dubnyk and a 2022 7th rounder from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a 2022 5th round pick. The Wild also retained 50% of Dubnyk\’s contract.
Once a Vezina finalist, Dubnyk completely crashed in 2019-20. It was arguably the worst year of his career, or at the very least the worst since before he came to Minnesota in his awful 2013-14 season. The 2004 first rounder has had a weird career, and he is currently a top three goalie in Wild history. Only Nicklas Backstrom has played in more games, and Dwayne Roloson is the only guy with a better save percentage and GAA in a Wild uniform. In the play-in round, Alex Stalock started instead of Dubnyk, who has one year left on his contract. Retaining half of it means that the Wild will face a $2.16 million cap hit. For Minnesota, Stalock, a former Shark, has two more years left on his deal, and top goaltending prospect Kaapo Kahkonen debuted last year after a strong AHL season. He is currently an RFA. While they only move up a few rounds in a future draft, shedding salary and looking to the future is always a good thing. This is a better trade for the Wild than the previous deal between these two teams today, when Ryan Donato went to San Jose.
For the Sharks, goaltending was a big issue for them last year, as Martin Jones and Aaron Dell both had a GAA of at least 3.00. While Dubnyk\’s was worse, he has the experience and he could turn things around if guided correctly. He will start the season likely as a 1B to Jones as Dell leaves as a UFA, but I wouldn\’t be surprised if Dubnyk becomes the 1A by the season\’s end. Thanks to the salary retainment, this is a very manageable deal for San Jose.
Dubnyk, 34, had a .890 SV% and a 3.35 GAA in 30 games for the Wild in 2019-20. In his NHL career for the Wild, Edmonton Oilers, Nashville Predators and Arizona Coyotes, Dubnyk has a .915 SV% and a GAA of 2.58 in 520 games.
CarterHud 