Gone Puck Wild
Fansided

The Minnesota Wild’s Goalie Conundrum and How to Fix it

By Lake Martin

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - APRIL 20: Alex Stalock #32 of the Minnesota Wild replaces teammate Devan Dubnyk #40 in Game Five of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Winnipeg Jets on April 20, 2018 at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jason Halstead /Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - APRIL 20: Alex Stalock #32 of the Minnesota Wild replaces teammate Devan Dubnyk #40 in Game Five of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Winnipeg Jets on April 20, 2018 at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jason Halstead /Getty Images) /
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Dubnyk has been commanding the net for some time. Does he have what it takes to get Minnesota to the next level still?

Minnesota Wild, #40 Devan Dubnyk (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
Minnesota Wild, #40 Devan Dubnyk (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

Since the 2014-2015 season (when Dubnyk joined the Wild midway through the season), Devan Dubnyk has played in 347 games, 328 have been with the Wild- the second most in the league. Dubnyk’s efforts in the 2014-2015 season after joining the Wild got him fourth place in Hart Trophy voting, third in Vezina Trophy voting, and won him the Masterton Trophy, an award for the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.

In that 2014-2015 season, Devan Dubnyk was second in the league with a save percentage of .929. In the 2015-2016 season, Dubnyk didn’t prevent as many goals, but he still was above league average with a .918. Dubnyk would perform above league average goaltending (some seasons better than others) until this season when he was significantly below the league average .910 save percentage with a dismal .890.

Dubnyk’s poor performance could be attributed to a pair of things. First and foremost, the Minnesota Wild were awful early in the season. In mid-November, the Minnesota Wild were in sole position of last place in the league. It certainly couldn’t help his performance, but even still, Dubnyk struggled in net leading up to and after the Wild managed to briefly hold a Wild Card spot. Maybe he carried the poor performance early as unnecessary baggage which affected his play later in the season.

Another consideration with Devan Dubnyk’s performance this season- Health Issue at home. It’s known that Jennifer Dubnyk dealt with a serious medical condition. Devan started the season 0-5 and then missed about a month of the season to be with family during the concerning time. It seems the condition (whatever it may have been) has been treated and that Jenn Dubnyk is now doing well.

It certainly couldn’t have been easy for Dubnyk to focus on hockey knowing in the back of his mind that his spouse wasn’t fully healthy. Even using hockey as a distraction after it was determined he could return to the net, there could definitely be a subconscious nagging in his mind that prevented him from being 100%. It’s possible he even gamed himself by trying so hard to make the perfect save/play that any mistake could open the flood gates for the rest of the game. This season, Devan Dubnyk allowed 3+ goals in twenty of his thirty starts, six of those were wins for the Wild. It’s clear he wasn’t on top of his game and it was unreasonable the ask the skaters to shoot the lights out and win one for him every single game.

Finally, age may have caught up with the Saskatchewan Goaltender. He just turned 34 which is about the time we start to see goaltenders decline in performance. With the number of games he’s played since joining the Wild (again second-most in the league), it’s completely possible he burned himself out.

Towards the end of play this year, it became more and more apparent that Alex Stalock was the better goalie this season. Let’s dive into him next.

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