Colorado needed a veteran goalkeeper for most of the season and they got one as they purchased Devan Dubnyk of San Jose in exchange for defender Greg Pateryn and a fifth round in 2021. Both teams confirmed the deal. Doug Wilson, GM, released the following statement:
Devan brought the element of utter professionalism and class to our dressing room, in an extremely unique and challenging season. He fitted in seamlessly within our group and helped mentor many of our younger players. We thank him for his contributions to the club on and off the ice this season and wish him all the best in Colorado.
The 34-year-old netder was in his first season with the Sharks after an off-season trade from Minnesota that San Jose hoped to help him rediscover his form from a few years ago. However, that did not happen because Dubnyk posted a 3.18 GAA with a saving percentage of just .898, which was not much better than his last year with the Wild.
Nevertheless, the move to bring in Dubnyk makes sense from the perspective of the Avs. Pavel Francouz The entire season has been injured, forcing Philipp Grubuaer to play the overwhelming majority of matches so far, and although he has played excellently, the risk is that he will burn himself if he wants to go any further. Jonas Johansson was brought in last month to try and help, and while coming off a shutdown last night, he was clearly not the solution for the rest of the season. Dubnyk could have played a little more regularly over the last month to keep Grubauer fresh, with the cost of adding that insurance is relatively low.
Pateryn is on the move for the second time this season after joining early in the year for Ian Cole in a step designed to give them some flexibility and a place for Bowen Byram. Its inclusion is primarily for expedient purposes, as its $ 2.25MM AAV is slightly higher than Dubnyk’s $ 2,167MM price (Minnesota pays the other half of foreign trade). As a result, Peter Baugh of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that there is no salary retention in the transaction. Pateryn has split the season between the NHL, the AHL and the taxi group and is likely to play a similar role as a depth blueliner or taxi group for San Jose.
The move makes a position available for one of the two Alexei Melnichuk or Josef Korenar to join the San Jose team. Both youngsters could already be part of the plan next season, so the chance to evaluate one or both in NHL actions will be beneficial. Meanwhile, Joe Sakic, GM, Colorado now added veteran depth for the second time in as many days after acquiring Patrik Nemeth of Detroit to supplement their rankings for what they hope is a long playoff game.
Kevin Weekes of the NHL Network was the first to report that Dubnyk would go to Colorado while Elliotte Friedman was from Sportsnet first noticed the fifth round going to San Jose.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.