ST PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild traded goalie Devan Dubnyk and forward Ryan Donato to the San Jose Sharks in two separate deals Monday, continuing their massive makeover under general manager Bill Guerin.
For Donato, the Wild received a third-round pick in the 2021 draft. The Sharks parted with their fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft for Dubnyk and also received Minnesota's 2022 seventh-rounder in return.
The 34-year-old Dubnyk was surpassed by Alex Stalock on the depth chart this season, after taking more than a month off from mid-November to mid-December to support his wife as she dealt with a medical condition. Dubnyk finished with a 3.35 goals-against average that was the third-worst of his career, and his .890 save percentage was his lowest in 10 years.
“It’s something I had to go through, unfortunately. Fortunately, everybody is OK and we had a chance to reset and get things back to normal," Dubnyk said on a video conference call with reporters. “I certainly didn’t forget how to stop the puck. I have a ton of confidence I can get my game back and even above where it was.”
Dubnyk will enter the final season of his contract with a $4.33 million cap hit. Minnesota agreed to cover half of his $2.5 million salary for 2020-21.
Dubnyk, who won a career-high 40 games for the Wild in 2016-17, led NHL goaltenders in games played (363) over his six-year run with Minnesota. He also had the third-best GAA (2.41) during that span.
“It is part of the change that’s going on here. We need to go in a different direction,” Guerin said. "Devan and I had some very good open conversations in the last little while, and in the end, I just think that this is best for the Minnesota Wild.”
Donato had 23 points (14 goals, 9 assists) in 62 games with the Wild last season. The 24-year-old Boston native started his NHL career with his hometown Bruins before being traded to Minnesota in 2019 in exchange for Charlie Coyle.
The skilled forward made a big splash with the Wild, scoring 15 points in his first 15 games with the Wild, including six two-point games. But as The Athletic's Michael Russo explained, the Wild acquired rising star Kevin Fiala, then signed wing Mats Zuccarello as a free agent. Donato became buried on the Wild's depth chart, and the signing of highly-anticipated Russia forward Karill Kaprizov made it clear Donato would have a hard time breaking the lineup.
Trading Donato to the Sharks is the latest transaction in an active offseason for the Wild. Last month, Minnesota announced longtime captain Mikko Koivu would not return to the team; the Wild also traded center Eric Staal to Buffalo for forward Marcus Johansson, while signing defenseman Jonas Brodin to a seven-year, $42 million contract extension.
Also Monday, the Wild announced they had inked up-and-coming defenseman Carson Soucy to a three-year, $8.25 million dollar contract, and signed free agent center Nico Sturm to a two-year, $1.45 million deal.
