More goaltending help is on the way. The Avalanche announced Saturday the acquisition of goaltender Devan Dubnyk from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for defenseman Greg Pateryn and a 2021 fifth-round pick. No salary was retained in this deal.
The trade comes three weeks after Colorado traded for goaltender Jonas Johansson from Buffalo.
Dubny, 34, is 3-9-2 this season with a 3.18 goals-against average and an .898 save percentage. He was acquired by the Sharks in an offseason trade for Minnesota. In that deal, the Wild retained 50% of his salary meaning the Avs will be on the hook for a $2.1667 million cap hit — nearly a million more than the $1.175 million that Pateryn was accounted for while in the minors.
A pending unrestricted free agent, Dubnyk was the starter for Minnesota for seven seasons prior to his trade to San Jose. During those years (2014-20), he led the NHL in games played (328), was second in wins (177), third in goals-against average (.241) and tied for sixth in save percentage (.918). He also had 23 shutouts.
The Avalanche have been without backup goalie Pavel Francouz for the entire season. Francouz was on the bench for the opening series against St. Louis before suffering a long-term injury.
Johansson has started three games and appeared in four since he was acquired. On Friday, Johansson made 28 saves to shutout the Anaheim Ducks 2-0. It was his first career NHL shutout.
With Dubnyk and Johansson, Colorado has shored up its goaltending depth for a playoff run.
