Oilers, Sens among teams interested in Wild D Dumba
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Interest appears to be picking up in Minnesota Wild defenceman Matt Dumba, though it's unclear if the pending unrestricted free agent will be on the move ahead of the March 3 trade deadline.
TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that the Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators are among the suitors for Dumba, but the Wild may not be willing to part with the blueliner. Minnesota currently holds the third and final wild-card spot in the Central Division, three points ahead of the St. Louis Blues with two games in hand.
"When I think of a team that may have a defenceman available, I think of Matt Dumba and the Minnesota Wild," Dreger said Tuesday on Insider Trading. "There’s no question that the Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators have reached out and do have interest in Dumba. Why wouldn’t you? He’s 28 years old, he’s a right-shot defenceman and he’s a pending unrestricted free agent.
"The problem from the Wild’s standpoint is they need him. They’re playing pretty well right now. They’re not sure just yet they are ready to move on from Matt Dumba, even though you look into the future and you see the cap issue of the Minnesota Wild … But the price would be high and then the Wild would have to hit the market potentially to find someone to replace Matt Dumba."
Dumba, 28, has four goals and 11 points in 40 games this season as he plays out the last of a five-year deal carrying a cap hit of $6 million. He had seven goals and 27 points in 57 games last season, adding one goal in six playoff games.
Selected seventh overall in the 2012 draft, Dumba has spent his entire career with the Wild, posting 79 goals and 233 points in 559 career games.
TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun notes that the Oilers have cast a wide net as they look for defensive help to boost their chances.
"I don’t think [Oilers general manager] Ken Holland is ready to panic, but our understanding of the situation is that Ken Holland has been on the phone a little more of late than usual and he is fully investigating what’s out there on the defenceman trade market. So yes, our understanding is he has talked to Arizona about [Jakob] Chychrun, to Montreal about Joel Edmundson. Think of a team [that] has a defenceman potentially on the trade market and the Edmonton Oilers are trying to investigate fully what that means and what the price is – the prices are very high.
"I think Ken Holland is willing to be patient, doesn’t want to make a panic move. The other thing is they aren’t one trade away from fixing everything in Edmonton. I think the message internally is: ‘We need to play better.’ There’s no question that’s been heard."
The Oilers continue to hold the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference entering play Wednesday with a 21-18-3 record. The team is expected to get an offensive boost in the coming weeks as Evander Kane nears his return from long-term injured reserve.
The Senators remain outside the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference, currently nine points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final wild-card spot. If the season ended today, Ottawa would have the ninth-best odds of winning the draft lottery at five per cent.