Devan Dubnyk

Lore & Background

Dubnyk spent his junior career with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 2001 to 2006. He was named the CHL Scholastic Player of the Year for the 2003–04 season. He began his professional career in 2006 with the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL, where he set club records with 24 wins, a 2.56 GAA and .921 save percentage, and was selected as an ECHL All-Star. He later played for the Springfield Falcons of the AHL, setting a club record for most appearances by a goaltender with 62 in 2008–09.

Dubnyk made his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers in the 2009–10 season after starting goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin underwent season-ending back surgery. He recorded his first career win on March 19, 2010, in a shootout against the Detroit Red Wings. Over the following seasons, he became the Oilers' starting goaltender, signing a two-year, $7 million contract extension in July 2012. After struggling in the 2013–14 season, he was traded to the Nashville Predators, then to the Montreal Canadiens (without appearing for them), and signed as a free agent with the Arizona Coyotes in July 2014.

With the Coyotes, Dubnyk posted a 9–5–2 record and credited goaltending coach Sean Burke for helping him regain his confidence. In January 2015, he was traded to the Minnesota Wild, where he immediately became the starter. He set a franchise record with 38 consecutive starts, posting a 27–9–2 record, 1.78 GAA, .936 save percentage and five shutouts. He was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, won the Bill Masterton Trophy, and was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team. He signed a six-year, $26 million contract with the Wild in July 2015 and was named to his first NHL All-Star Game in January 2016. After a down 2019–20 season, he was traded to the San Jose Sharks and later to the Colorado Avalanche.

Reader's Guide

Devan Dubnyk's significance lies in his remarkable career resurgence with the Minnesota Wild, which transformed him from a struggling goaltender into a Vezina Trophy finalist and Bill Masterton Trophy winner. After being traded from the Arizona Coyotes in January 2015, Dubnyk immediately became Minnesota's starter and led the team to a playoff berth, setting a franchise record with 38 consecutive starts. His performance—27 wins, a 1.78 GAA, .936 save percentage and five shutouts—helped the Wild clinch a playoff spot when they were eight points out. He recorded his first career playoff shutout against the St. Louis Blues in April 2015. Dubnyk finished third in Vezina Trophy voting and fourth in Hart Memorial Trophy voting, and was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team. His legacy includes being a key figure in the Wild's success during the mid-2010s, though his later seasons with San Jose and Colorado were less impactful. His career arc—from first-round draft pick to journeyman to elite starter—illustrates the unpredictability of goaltending development in the NHL.

Did You Know?

• He set a Minnesota Wild franchise record with 38 consecutive starts after being acquired in 2015.
• He won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 2015 for perseverance and dedication to hockey.
• Dubnyk was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy in 2015, finishing third in voting.

From Regina to the NHL Draft

Devan Dubnyk was born on May 4, 1986, in Regina, Saskatchewan, and went on to build a distinguished junior career with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League. Over five seasons spanning 2001 to 2006, he appeared in 192 games, posting an 83-87-14 record alongside a 2.70 goals-against average, a .911 save percentage, and 15 shutouts. His dedication extended well beyond the ice: at the close of the 2003-04 campaign, the Canadian Hockey League recognized him as its Scholastic Player of the Year, honoring the player who best balanced athletic excellence with academic achievement. That same off-season, the Edmonton Oilers selected him in the first round, 14th overall, of the 2004 NHL entry draft, marking the formal beginning of his professional journey. His path to the NHL would prove lengthy, but his junior numbers and evident work ethic had already signaled a goaltender with genuine upside.

Establishing Himself in Edmonton

Dubnyk's road to the NHL was gradual. After setting ECHL records with the Stockton Thunder in 2006-07 and spending three seasons with Edmonton's AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons, he finally received his first call-up in late 2009 when Nikolai Khabibulin suffered season-ending back surgery. His debut on November 28, 2009, was a 7-3 loss to Vancouver, but by March 2010 he had recorded both his first shootout victory and his first regulation win. The 2010-11 season proved transformative: injuries to Khabibulin opened the door, and Dubnyk logged over 30 starts, earning a first career shutout on February 7, 2011, stopping 37 shots in a 4-0 win over Nashville. Head Coach Tom Renney noted the team had played him more than originally planned and he had made the best of it. By the 2011-12 campaign, Dubnyk had cemented his role, posting a 1.95 GAA and .934 save percentage in March while starting 12 of Edmonton's final 13 games, a stretch in which the Oilers won 16 of their last 17.

A Turbulent Interlude

The 2013-14 season brought uncertainty. Dubnyk struggled early and faced competition from newly acquired veteran Ilya Bryzgalov, though Bryzgalov's injury in his third game temporarily secured Dubnyk's starting role. On January 15, 2014, Edmonton traded him to Nashville for forward Matt Hendricks. His time as a Predator was brief—he started just two games before Pekka Rinne's return forced him down to the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals. Two days after that assignment, on March 5, Nashville dealt him to Montreal for future considerations, and he was immediately sent to the Hamilton Bulldogs without making a single appearance for the Canadiens. As an unrestricted free agent, Dubnyk signed with Arizona on July 1, 2014. There, goaltending coach Sean Burke helped him rebuild his confidence, and he posted a 9-5-2 record, signaling a return to the form that had made him a first-round pick a decade earlier.

Finding His Peak in Minnesota

On January 15, 2015, the struggling Arizona Coyotes traded Dubnyk to the Minnesota Wild for a third-round pick, and he immediately assumed the starting role. The timing could not have been better: Minnesota sat eight points outside a playoff berth when he made his debut, which he answered with a shutout over the Buffalo Sabres. The Wild would go on to become one of the most successful goaltending situations in the league, and Dubnyk enjoyed the most productive stretch of his NHL career during his five seasons in Minnesota. His tenure there represented the culmination of a long development arc—from ECHL record-setter to AHL workhorse to NHL backup to full-time starter. Though his career would later take him to San Jose and Colorado, it was in Minnesota that the 14th overall pick from 2004 finally became the consistent, high-level goaltender his early numbers had always promised.

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