The Colorado Avalanche acquired San Jose Sharks goalie Devan Dubnyk on Saturday in exchange for defender Greg Pateryn and a fifth round in the 2021 NHL Series.
Dubnyk, 34, gives league-leading Colorado an assurance in the net behind starter Philipp Grubauer. During his career, Dubnyk has played 26 games of Stanley Cup playoff experience.
This season, he has a 3.18 goals to average and 0.898 save percentage for the struggling San Jose.
“Devan brought the element of complete professionalism and class to our locker room in an extremely unique and challenging season,” said Doug Wilson, CEO of Sharks. “He has fitted in seamlessly with our squad and helped mentor many of our younger players. We thank him for his contributions to our club this season on and off the ice and wish him all the best in Colorado.”
Dubnyk and Pateryn will become free agents after this season. Colorado acquired Pateryn earlier this season in a deal that sent defender Ian Cole to Minnesota.
The Avalanche made two deals in two days after selecting Detroit defender Patrik Nemeth for a fourth round. Their 58 points to 40 games are the most in the league and they have four in Vegas for first place in the West Division.
Grubauer was the center of success. He leads the league with 24 wins and averaged 1.87 GAA and .922 percent in 33 games, but has never played in more than 37 games in a regular season in his NHL career.
Joe Sakic, GM, in Colorado, may not trade. With goalkeeper Pavel Francouz and defender Erik Johnson on the long-term injured reserve, and even without San Jose retaining any of Dubnyk’s salary, the avalanche has $ 4.4 million more room to use before the Monday afternoon deadline.
Jonas Johansson hit 28 times in his first career exclusion on Friday night when the avalanche defeated the Anaheim Ducks 2-0. Discussing a trade-up, Johansson said he was Grubauer’s backer in a strong performance against last place.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.