Dubnyk Avoids the Free Market

The Minnesota Wild were in a bit of a panic, coming into this weekend, about not having their number one goalie, Devan Dubnyk, under contract before July 1st.  Dubnyk was headed towards unrestricted free agency, for the first time in his career, and he had career-year numbers, to help drive up his value.

Sure enough, the Wild and Dubnyk were able to get a deal done, signing a 6-year contract extension on Saturday afternoon, reportedly worth $26 million.  It's certainly not one of the higher paid deals in the NHL, but the term is exceptional, which means Dubnyk will be getting a paycheque for quite some time.

Before the 2015 season, Dubnyk had never ranked any higher than 27th amongst his fellow crease jockeys, but after a slow start, playing as the number two guy in Arizona to start the year and then getting dealt to Minnesota, he had a top notch year, finishing 7th among all goalies in scoring, thanks to 36 wins between the two sides.  Overall, his total points came in at 86, which was good enough for 9th overall in pool scoring.

In last season's hockey pool, Dubnyk wasn't taken during the initial draft in September, nor did anyone try to make up for a mistake of another goalie at the preseason Waiver Draft.  No, he had to hold out until the first full Waiver Draft in Week Nine, where afterwards, the team that picked him up, was able to collect 74 of his 86 points, thanks to having picked him up, while he was still in Arizona.

It remains to be seen, how much of an impact he has left on the hockey pool, as there may be some questions about how he'll play in his second act, as the new superstar goaltender in the league.

Now that the Wild have their man, what happens to the rest of the crew?  It does sound like Darcy Kuemper is going to be the guy that is behind Dubnyk next season, but an elbow injury isn't going to allow the Wild to buyout Niklas Backstrom before the end of the window, so take that for what is worth.  Dubnyk ate a lot of minutes in that stretch with the Wild, so as a hockey poolie, does it even matter who plays back-up?