Sharks acquire Dubnyk, Donato
Devan Dubnyk is now a member of the San Jose Sharks, and general manager Doug Wilson has to hope that his newest goalie can have a bounce-back season.
Dubnyk himself has no doubt.
“I was certainly battling questions all year about it,” Dubnyk said Monday, “but I know for a fact that I certainly didn’t forget how to stop the puck, and I’ve got a ton of confidence that I can getmy game back, and even above where it was.”
The Sharks hope they’ve taken steps to address two of their biggestweaknesses fromlast season— goaltending and forward depth — as they acquired Dubnyk and winger Ryan Donato in separate deals Monday with the Minnesota Wild.
The Sharks sent a 2022 fifth- round draft choice in exchange for Dubnyk and a 2022 seventh round draft pick, and acquired Donato, 24, for a 2021 third-round draft pick.
Dubnyk, 34, is coming off his worst season in years, as he had a 12-15-2 record and an .890 save percentage in 30 regular season games. He also did not start any of the Wild’s four postseason games, as he lost the No. 1 job to former Shark Alex Stalock.
The 6- foot- 6 Dubnyk has played 520 regular season games over 11 seasons, including 328 games over the last five-plus seasons with the Wild. Dubnyk was an NHL All-Star and a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2015.
Wilson could have gone a number of ways in searching for a new goalie this offseason. Several are slated to become unrestricted free agents later this week, including the Islanders’ Thomas Greiss, Chicago’s Corey Crawford and the Calgary’s Cam Talbot.
But those goalies might be able to demand multiyear deals. By acquiring a veteran goalie with just one year left on his contract, the Sharks are able to give goalie prospect Alexei Melnichuk, 22, more time to develop without blocking his entry into the NHL for the 2021-22 season.
Dubnyk also has the qualities the Sharks were looking for — a veteran goalie with No. 1 experiencewhocancompetewith Martin Jones. The Sharks also needed a proven goalie ahead of what could be a compressed schedule next season.
Dubnyk also has a good relationship with goalie coach Evgeni Nabokov, who had a role in the evaluation process as the Sharks looked for an upgrade from the JonesAaron Dell tandem that struggled the last two seasons.
Last season, Donato had 14 goals and 23 points for Minnesota as he averaged 10minutes and 38 seconds of ice time per game. All of his 14 goals came at even strength, as he finished tied for the team lead in that category with Kevin Fiala, Eric Staal and Luke Kunin.
Assuming he’s comfortable on his off-wing, Donato, a left-shot, could be in line for a bigger role with the Sharks, who need players to play right wing.
“Iwant to be a guy that’s a 200-foot player, not just a guy that creates offense,” Donato said. “I want to be a guy that’s an offensive threat and is also just as good ondefense as he is on offense.”