Devan Dubnyk is headed to the Minnesota Wild, because life isn’t fair

Jan 6, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes goalie Devan Dubnyk (40) squirts water on his face before facing the St. Louis Blues at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Devan Dubnyk has been traded to the Minnesota Wild for a third-round pick. Outright. Nothing else involved in the trade; no conditional clauses, no prospects, nothing.

Devan Dubnyk was a first-round pick for the Edmonton Oilers back in 2004, fourteenth overall.

Was that too high? Hell yes. He was drafted above obvious sleepers like Henrik Lundqvist, but he was also drafted above Cory Schneider, Tuukka Rask, and Jonathan Quick — so needless to say, Edmonton rolled the dice somewhat poorly with this one.

Over his career, though, he’s been consistently better than Arizona’s starter, Mike Smith — we did a piece on it earlier this season, showing that his 2013-2014 season was an anomaly (and still somehow better than Smith’s off year, which we’re living right now).

The team was unlikely to re-sign him after this particular season, so trading him makes sense — and the Wild are the perfect trade targets. They’re currently dealing with some ferociously poor goaltending from an aging goaltender (Niklas Backstrom) and a young but inconsistent one (Darcy Kuemper), so they were likely to be desperate for a new netminder. Devan Dubnyk is a good option; he’s put up better overall numbers than Ilya Bryzgalov (and is significantly younger than either him or Martin Brodeur), and he’s relatively cheap — signed to a respectable backup salary.

Devan Dubnyk was a fairly consistent starter for a terrible team earlier in his career, so it’s fair that most people consider him to be having the ‘season of his life’. Let’s be honest — when you fall from grace with the Edmonton Oilers, it’s hard to remember that you’re actually capable of being a competent starter for forty-plus games.

The Coyotes unloaded him for a third round pick, though, which is making me rather close to clawing out my own eyeballs.

Let’s be rational, though.

The Coyotes are a team with one of the most monstrous goaltending systems in the league; looking beyond the atrociously overblown contract they inked starter Mike Smith to about eighteen months ago, the team is sitting pretty in net for quite a while.

In all likelihood, no goaltender they pick up now is going to play his best. The team has so many good starters waiting in the wings that any backup they ink has to be aware that he’s a placeholder, not a long-term solution.

That being said, the team will likely turn to either Portland or Gwinnett to back Smith up, at least for the time being. Let’s see what they have to offer:

1. Mike McKenna

Stats in Portland: (15-13-1), .932 SV%, 2.17 GAA

NHL Career Stats: (5-10-2), .891 SV%, 3.40 GAA

The big name I’m seeing thrown around on the social media (aka Twitter) is McKenna’s.

The 32-year-old netminder has bounced around the league for most of his career and is somewhat of a minor league fan favorite. He’s a perfectly competent starting AHL guy, but hasn’t seemed sustainable at the NHL level; while he’s playing well for the Portland Pirates this season, I don’t foresee him winning the team a ton of games in Glendale. I would pass on him, but he could be a respectable and strong call-up on occasion.

2. Mark Visentin

Stats in Portland: currently out with a foot injury, all season

NHL Career Stats: (0-1-0), .906 SV%, 3.01 GAA

Visentin is out for the season with a foot injury, but just thought I’d put him in here.

I assumed all summer that the team would call up Visentin at least a handful of times this season to see how competent he is, but he’s out for the forseeable future (for what we know) with a foot injury.

That being said, if anyone has *looked* good enough to take over Mike Smith’s somewhat undeserved throne in the near future, it’s been Visentin. His career numbers in the minors have looked good, and for those of you who don’t remember, he’s the Team Canada goalie who kind of got hung out to dry a few seasons ago at the World Juniors. Remember Denis Godla this year? That was Mark Visentin, before Team Canada became relevant and terrifying again.

He probably won’t play this year, cause injuries, but this is your consolation prize. Congratulations, Arizona.

3. Louis Domingue

Stats in Portland: (6-2-0), .924 SV%, 2.26 GAA

No NHL experience

Most casual fans don’t always know about the lesser-known prospects, and Louis Domingue is one of those — but with Visentin out for the forseeable future, Louis Domingue might be the best option.

A former goalie for Patrick Roy’s Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL, Domingue is a tall, athletic goalie who — get this — was cited in his prospect report for HOLDING HIS POSITION WELL.

For those who have watched Mike Smith this season, we need to call this kid up. Like, yesterday.

After playing for the Gwinnett Gladiators and wiping the floor clean with his opposition in the ECHL last season, Domingue got the nod to play for the Portland Pirates sort of mid-season. He started off struggling against AHL competitors, but steadily improved. This season, he went to Gwinnett to play two games — and recorded a shutout in his first game back. Of those two games, he’s only allowed two goals on forty-eight shots. He’s good.

His numbers this season have suggested that he’s continuing to trend upwards, and while he might need to ease into NHL play — as he needed to ease into AHL play — this could be the team’s diamond in the rough. He’s only 22, but he could stand in well, at least occasionally.

4. Mike Lee

Stats in Gwinnett: (1-3-1), .897 SV%, 2.98 GAA

Has not played in the AHL or NHL this season

Mike Lee needs to be the team’s last resort by somewhat of a landslide. Calling up Mike Lee would be too blatant a tank, and I’m pretty sure would result in the league awarding the Coyotes the thirtieth overall pick from now until forever.

Lee was drafted in the third round in 2009, and has never really lived up to his hype. He’s only 24, but has fallen from grace since leaving St. Cloud State in 2012.

He’s gone from playing for the Pirates to being the Pirates backup, to being the Gwinnett Gladiators’ starter, to being Gwinnett’s backup. He’s wildly inconsistent, and probably won’t end up sticking around in the Arizona system. He was passed up on the depth chart by Domingue last season, but hasn’t done much to prove that he wants his old rank back — of all the goalies in the system, this one probably won’t get the job done.

*update: They called this one up. McDavid tank is a go.*

May Devan Dubnyk and his adorable goalie mask with Melman the Giraffe rest in peace. *Crying*