Scooby Dooby Don't

 By William Espy

The Minnesota Wild goaltending situation is an ever-evolving matter. The 2014-2015 season started with a goaltending duo of Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper following an injury and team suspension to Josh Harding. On January 14, 2015 the Minnesota Wild sent a 2015 third round pick to Arizona in exchange for goaltender Devan Dubnyk. Dubnyk has spent a majority of his career with the Edmonton Oilers and was seen as a bust. The 14^th overall pick in the 2004 draft, Dubnyk posted very poor numbers in Edmonton, Nashville and even became the fourth string goaltender in Montreal. In July 2014, he became an unrestricted free agent and signed a one year deal with the Arizona Coyotes. He posted decent numbers in his short stint with Arizona before having a breakout with the Wild.

He would do so well in Minnesota that he would help save their playoff chances, and presumably coach Mike Yeo’s job. The numbers he posted included a 27-9-2 record, a goals against average of 1.78 and a save percentage of .936 as well as a Vezina trophy nomination.

This performance also came with a steep price for the Wild. Dubnyk’s subpar performance in the playoffs resulted in an early elimination but the biggest downside has just begun. Dubnyk is now set to become an unrestricted free agent once again on July 1^st, and he is asking for a seemingly astronomical long term deal. The 29 year old wants $25M over the course of 5 years, a steep jump from 800,000 over one year.

The opinion of fans regarding this issue will vary extremely, however there is no doubt in my mind of how management should handle this situation. Dubnyk came into a very strong defensive team and in the past has never been able to consistently post numbers even slightly close to this season. While it is entirely possible that he will continue this phenomenal play, after the Backstrom deal the gamble seems to not be worth the risk. With goalies such as Antti Niemi available in free agency, Ottawa shopping around Lehner or Anderson and New York offering out Cam Talbot there are much more affordable and safe options for Minnesota.