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Wild reporter pegs Dubnyk deal at ‘well north of $3 million per’

Devan Dubnyk

Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk blocks a shot during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues, Saturday, March 14, 2015, in St. Louis. Minnesota won the game 3-1. (AP Photo/Billy Hurst)

AP

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about free-agent goalie Devan Dubnyk and suggested a contract of three years at $4.5 million per season to re-sign with the Minnesota Wild.

PHT commenters were aghast. Way too high, they said. The media is so dumb. Why is the media so dumb? Is it because they have no brains?

So here’s a second media opinion, courtesy Michael Russo at the StarTribune:

The market for Dubnyk is basically whatever another team will pay him as a free agent (couple that with the fact there’s no obvious answer for the Wild if Dubnyk leaves).

Now, maybe Dubnyk takes less to stay in a place where he was a solid fit, but this was a $3.75 million goalie in Edmonton. For the Wild to sign him, the deal will obviously average well north of $3 million per.

Remember that Dubnyk was the catalyst in the Wild’s turnaround this season. He’s a Vezina Trophy finalist, and he probably got a few Hart Trophy votes too.

Granted, the goalie market isn’t great (for goalies) and Dubnyk wasn’t fantastic in the playoffs. The Wild could play hardball with him if they chose. But what if they ended up losing him? Do they have a fallback plan beyond Darcy Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom? Because that’s the tandem that got them in trouble in the first place.

Anyway, I’m still optimistic the two sides will find a way to get something done. He wants to stay. They want to keep him. And usually that’s enough to get pen to paper.

Related: So…what should the Wild do with Dubnyk?