The Minnesota Wild’s busy day just became chaotic. General Manager Bill Guerin has traded away the franchise’ cornerstone goaltender, Devan Dubnyk, to the San Jose Sharks for a 5th round pick in the 2022 draft. Hopefully, you were not too attached to yelling “DUUUUBS” during games…

This should not come as much of a surprise to Wild fans, especially after Guerin traded Ryan Donato away to the Sharks hours earlier. Dubnyk’s name has been popping up in trade discussions around the league, for months. It had become clear, Dubnyk’s time in Minnesota was coming to an end. Now, it’s becoming official.

Change in goal: #mnwild to send longtime No. 1 netminder Devan Dubnyk to #sjsharks for draft pick

STORY and DETAILS of the return, the salary retention and what's next>>>https://t.co/MA4GwEOrD8

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 5, 2020

The Writing On The Wall

While 2020 has been a bitch to everyone, Dubnyk has received an especially short end of the stick, and didn’t appear to be himself throughout the season. He dealt with a serious medical emergency involving his wife, that forcing him out of action for an extended period of time.

Play went on and Dubnyk eventually came back, but was a far cry from what he was in his first three and half years with the Wild. Remember, Devan Dubnyk was once the guy boasting a record of 134-70-20 with three All-Star appearances and two top-15 finishes for the Hart and Venzina trophies.

Shit started to hit the fan in 2018-19, when he posted a 31-28-6 record and the Wild missed the playoffs for the first time in six years. It continued into 2019-20 when he went 12-15-2 with a 3.35 GAA, his worst since coming to Minnesota.

The low-point came in the 2020 postponed playoffs. Dubnyk, although suited up, did not start a single game. The Minnesota Wild chose to go with Alex Stalock, instead. Trading Dubnyk, even if it only means a 5th-rounder in return, recovers $2.5 million in cap-space for next season. If the Wild had been forced to buy him out, they would have been set back a neat $4.33 million.

Devan Dubnyk, rumoured to be headed to San Jose, is one of the worst goalies in the NHL. pic.twitter.com/AN7VJloKTS

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 3, 2020

Stalock Is Not The Answer

Now don’t fret, Wild fans. Losing Dubnyk does not mean the Wild are going with a goaltender tandem of Alex Stalock and Kaapo Kahkonen. Although both showed promising signs, neither of them are good enough or ready to take over a team vying for the playoffs.

Instead, Geurin and Co. could utilize the Dubnyk move to free up more cap space for a different front-line net-minder. With a free agent market saturated with good goaltenders, it would not be much of a shock if this is a move they favor. If the Wild do not retain much or any of Dubnyk’s salary, this move could pay massive dividends.

With Dubnyk on the roster and everything we know, the Wild now have nearly $20 million to throw around this offseason. That is no chump change. Do we know who the Wild would vie for? No. But even if they roll with Stalock and Kahkonen, they could find other much needed assistance elsewhere.

Jack Kewitsch | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Wild find themselves needing to respond in the Stanley Cup qualifying round, after losing Game 2 to the Vancouver Canucks 4-3. Through those first two games, Kevin Fiala has been absurdly good but he can’t carry the team’s scoring by himself. If the Wild are going to win this series they’ll need more from a few different guys…. and a change at goalie.

MATS ZUCCARELLO, RW

After signing a lucrative five-year, $30 million dollar contract with the Wild last July, Zuccarello’s first two playoff games in a Wild sweater have been extremely underwhelming. With 75-career playoff games under his belt, you would expect Zuccarello to come out with a little bit more juice than he has.

The passing and vision is all there but he needs to start showing up on the scoresheet if the Wild have any hopes of getting past the Canucks. So far, Zuccarello has mustered up a complete goose egg in every statistical category. He just hasn’t seemed to mesh with current linemates Marcus Foligno and Alex Galchenyuk.

Zulgad: No return on investment: Mats Zuccarello’s underwhelming ways continue in Wild’s return https://t.co/H4QFmvk2Tn pic.twitter.com/1ZlclAvWf8

— SKOR North (@SKORNorth) August 5, 2020

MY SOLUTION: Bump Zuccarello up to the top-line with Eric Staal and Kevin Fiala.

JORDAN GREENWAY, LW

Coming in at a mammoth 6’6”, 225 lbs, Greenway has been gifted the tools to be a top power-forward in the NHL. There’s one problem though… he never seems to use those god-given talents while on the ice. He is a player that has the ability to change the momentum of the game with just one shift. I have seen way too much hesitancy in his game and not nearly enough grit and power. I want to see Greenway simplify his game. Dump pucks in, retrieve them, and go to work beneath the dots in the offensive zone with his linemates. It’s time for the big rig to play big again.

Luke Kunin and Jordan Greenway chirping from the bench. pic.twitter.com/g0SFHdeOdh

— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) August 3, 2020

MY SOLUTION: Get Greenway in a more simplified role and pair him back up with Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno.

MATT DUMBA, D

Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin have had an incredible playoff series thus far. But it’s been a fairly quiet one for arguably the Wild’s most dynamic defenseman, Matt Dumba. With a stud like Quinn Hughes on the other side of things, the Wild need Dumba to get cooking before their steak is all burnt up. Like a lot of highly-skilled defensemen do from time-to-time, far too often I see Dumba trying to make that “perfect” play or attempting to force things that aren’t there.

The thing that makes Dumba great is his rocket of a shot from the blue line. He also brings a ton of physicality in the open ice. I don’t see the drought lasting much longer for Dumba. He is just one big goal or one big hit away from becoming himself again.

Matt Dumba literally saves a goal to keep the score 3-1. #mnwild #canucks pic.twitter.com/RBEiWaNOBe

— Giles Ferrell (@gilesferrell) August 5, 2020

MY SOLUTION: Put Dumba on the top power-play in place of Ryan Suter and let him drop bombs from the point.

WHO WILL DEAN EVASON PUT IN NET FOR GAME 3?

I would be crazy to blame that ugly game two loss against the Canucks on Alex Stalock. You could make the case that none of the four goals allowed were even his fault. Two of them were strange bounces and the other two were absolute snipe shows. That being said, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that Evason might be pondering the decision to go with Devan Dubnyk in game three (Thursday, 1:30 CT, FSN/NHLN).

Now why do I say this? Heading into this series, there was already uncertainty surrounding the Wild’s goaltending situation. Do they go with the experience of Dubnyk? Do they go with the hot-hand towards the end of the season in Stalock? Or do they even give the promising young Kaapo Kähkönen a look? Evason evidently chose to go with Stalock. While it worked in the first game, game two was a whole different story. The Wild got outplayed in just about every aspect of the game in Game 2.

TIME TO SHAKE THINGS UP

In my opinion, the Wild have always seemed to play better defensively when they have a calming presence in the blue paint. With his experience and calm demeanor, Dubnyk can provide that for the Wild. On the other side of things, Stalock’s roadrunner playing style has proven to bring anxiety to the lineup more often than not. You just can’t be swimming around in the crease with guys like Elias Petterson, Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller, Bo Horvat and co. lurking around in the shadows. All of the momentum is on the Canucks side right now. Changing your goaltender can help gain that momentum back heading into the game.

So, getting to my point, I think Stalock starting in net is more of a systematic issue for the Wild than a simple “this-guy-is-better-than-this-guy” one. Does Alex Stalock deserve to come out of the lineup? No. But I think this team has a better opportunity to win against a high-flying team off the rush like the Canucks with a veteran, calming presence in net. And you don’t think Dubnyk has a chip on his shoulder after losing his starting job this year? If it were me, I would go with Dubnyk in game three. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Jake Jensen | Minnesota Sports Fan