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Under Pressure: Devan Dubnyk

150831-Devan-Dubnyk

With a new six-year $26 million deal in his back pocket, Devan Dubnyk is under pressure to prove last season’s heroics were no fluke.

The 29-year-old led the Wild, who were sitting 12th in the Western Conference at the time of his trade from Arizona, to a third consecutive playoff berth.

Dubnyk made 39 appearances with Minnesota, including 38 consecutive starts, finishing with a 27-9-2 record to go along with five shutouts, a 1.78 G.A.A. and a .936 save percentage.

“It was nothing crazy, nothing extravagant. I’m a pretty simple goalie the way I play,” Dubnyk told the Star Tribune at the time of his signing. “The way we played as a group, there weren’t any miracles happening out there. We were playing the right way and for myself it was just being simple and strong and keeping goals tight. I wasn’t doing back flips out there and doing stuff that I’m not capable of continuing to do.

“I’m only 29 years old. I’m fully planning on continuing to get better as I go here.”

His spectacular season won him the Masterton Trophy for perseverance and saw him finish third in voting for the Vezina Trophy.

Head coach Mike Yeo is expecting a similar performance this season from the veteran goaltender.

“I’m going to ask the same of him that we asked from him last year when we made the trade for him,” coach Mike Yeo told NHL.com. “Obviously his numbers were heroic. What he did was, looking back on it, may seem heroic, but we asked him not to come in and try to be a hero.

“We didn’t need him to be a savior for our team. We needed him to do his job really well and we knew that we had a group that could play a good game in front of him to give him the support that he needed. It clicked.”

Dubnyk led the Wild to a six-game upset of the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs stopping 66 of the final 68 shots he faced in the series. However, he went 0-4 with a 2.81 G.A.A. and a .901 save percentage in the four-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round.

“He’s entering the prime of his career. He’s had some good seasons (with the Edmonton Oilers) and had a great season this year,” GM Chuck Fletcher told the Star Tribune per NHL.com. “We’re not asking him to duplicate what he did this year every year. Maybe that’s not realistic, but we believe he can be a good goaltender in this league. He’s right at the stage of his career where he’s ready to take off.”

Related: Wild ’15-16 Outlook

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