Heading into the offseason, it was clear that the San Jose Sharks needed to address their goaltending situation. Rather than heading to free agency for an upgrade or going after a big name via trade, however, the Sharks picked up veteran goaltender Devan Dubnyk.
Dubnyk is coming off a terrible year, in which he posted an .890 save percentage in 30 games and lost the net in Minnesota to Alex Stalock. He’s also 34 years old, meaning his best days are likely behind him.
That said, Dubnyk managed a .913 save percentage in the 2018-19 season and had at least a .918 save percentage in four straight seasons before that. As a result, I think he could certainly recover to around a .910 save percentage next season.
Prior to the 2019-20 season, Dubynk had played between 60 and 67 games in four straight seasons, so he’s still able to handle a high number of games. With that in mind, the Sharks are probably looking at Dubnyk and Jones splitting games, heading into the year. If one goalie pulls ahead, obviously the Sharks will run with them but if not, I could see the two goalies sharing the net.
Obviously, the Sharks don’t have a lot of faith in Martin Jones, given their decision to trade for Dubnyk in the first place. With that in mind, I’d imagine the Sharks are pretty open-minded about Dubnyk’s role, given Jones’ struggles over the past couple seasons. If Jones stumbles once again and Dubnyk proves to be a noticeable improvement in net, I’d imagine it’ll be Dubnyk’s net to lose.
I’m still a fan of the decision to add Dubnyk and I’m pretty confident that he’ll be an upgrade for the Sharks between the pipes. Heading into the 2020-21 season, San Jose is in a better situation in net than they were a year ago.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
What do you expect Devan Dubnyk's save percentage to be next season?
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