Arizona Coyotes Trade Devan Dubnyk
The Arizona Coyotes have traded goaltender Devan Dubnyk to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a third round draft pick in the 2015 draft.
More from Arizona Coyotes
- Arizona Coyotes: Slumping Strome Shipped to Chicago
- Arizona Coyotes: How Coach Rick Tocchet Sparked His Offense
- Arizona Coyotes: 3 Keys to Win Over Blue Jackets
- Arizona Coyotes: 3 Takeaways From Saturday’s Loss in Winnipeg
- Arizona Coyotes: Dvorak Out Indefinitely After Surgery
Mike Smith has struggled mightily this season and surprisingly Dubnyk was there to stop the bleeding and played very well for Arizona. After bouncing around from team to team last year, Dubnyk may have saved his career with the way he played for the Coyotes and was definitely one of the bright spots during the not so great 2014-15 season.
Dubnyk played in 19 of Arizona’s 42 games this season. In that time, he went 9-5-2 with a 2.72 GAA and a .919 save percentage.
Don Maloney explained his reasons for the trade on the Coyotes website:
"“Devan played very well for us during his time in Arizona, however, this trade accomplishes three things for us. First, we acquired a good asset that we can use in the future. Second, it allows us to take a look at a couple of our younger goaltenders in our system – Louis Domingue and Mike Lee – to see where they are in their development. And finally, it will put Mike Smith back in our net on a permanent basis to get him back to the level we know he can play at. We believe in Mike.”"
Dubnyk was set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and with how he has been playing this year, it’s probable that his asking price would be high. Adding to that, he more than likely would not want to remain a back up and leave in search for a starting job.
So, the trade is a good one in my opinion. It was better to get something for him than let him walk at the end of the season and get nothing. The draft pick will be valuable as the Coyotes look to build young talent for the future.
With the way the season is going, don’t expect this to be the last of the trades from Arizona.