Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk has had a sensational start to the season. The type of start which has him as the early favorite to win the Vezina Trophy
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Coming into the season, this type of production was not expected from Devan Dubnyk. After a relatively disappointing season by his standards last season, it was fair to wonder if it was a mistake giving Dubnyk the type of money the Wild have committed to him over the next five years (his current yearly salary is $4.3 million per year).
However, Dubnyk has played even better than he did when he first arrived in Minnesota and carried that team on his back to the playoffs. The year in question, 2014-15, Dubnyk owned a 1.78 GAA and went 27-9-2 after his mid season trade from Arizona. It was enough to earn him his contract. And his numbers last year dipped, although they were still solid with a 2.33 GAA and a record of 32-26-6.
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This year, Dubnyk’s numbers look like they come from a video game. He has a GAA of 1.55 and a record of 16-6-3. The record has the potential to look a lot better in the near future if the team keeps playing the way they are, as they have won 8 straight games as of this writing.
To further his argument as the best goalie in the league, Dubnyk leads the league in three major categories: goals against average (1.55), save percentage (.948), and shutouts (5). He is also tied for fourth in the NHL in wins, but it should also be noted the Wild have only played 31 games thus far. For comparison, the average Western Conference team at this point has played in 33 games. Both Dubnyk and the team will have the chance to make up ground on some of the league leaders over the course of the season.
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Other NHL goalies don’t even compare when you look at the numbers thus far. The nearest competitor in terms of GAA averages .3 more goals given up than Dubnyk and is 10 percentage points behind him in save percentage. It should be noted in both cases the runner up is Matthew Murray of Pittsburgh, but he doesn’t have the same sample size (17 games started) of Dubnyk (25 games started). As long as he is able to keep up, or even regress slightly from, his current level of play, Dubnyk should be considered the favorite for the leagues top goaltender at the end of the season..