It was rumoured a while back that Matt Dumba would not make it past the trade deadline this season for the Minnesota Wild, regardless of their position in the standings. That rumour is becoming more of a reality as Darren Dreger has reported that two teams are interested in the defenceman – Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators.
It’s likely that these two teams are interested in Dumba for different reasons as the Oilers don’t have the cap space to keep him long-term, whereas that’s exactly what the Senators are looking for. Keep in mind that he has a 10-team no-trade list which could include one or both of these teams.
Edmonton Oilers
If the Oilers have serious interest in Dumba and plan to move forward, they are a team that has the tools to pull off a move. Michael Russo of The Athletic noted last month that it may take a hockey trade for the Wild to be willing to move Dumba rather than draft picks or prospects. The Wild are in a playoff spot and plan to stay there. There are obvious holes up front and could take someone like Warren Foegele with another year left on his deal or Puljujarvi at half the price of Dumba.
Pierre LeBrun noted that the Oilers have been checking in on almost every available defenceman ahead of the trade deadline to see what is the best move for the team. Dumba doesn’t have the best numbers this season, but he is an upgrade on what the Oilers currently have. The interest shown by Ken Holland may turn out to be nothing considering right-shot defencemen are typically appealing and the Oilers have three in the NHL already. Unless Jay Woodcroft is willing to try one out on the left side, it’ll be a tough move.
What is appealing for the Oilers about Dumba is his size and physicality. He plays the game hard and before he started to have injury troubles a number of years ago, was a very impactful player offensively. He scored 14 goals and 50 points in 2017-18 and hasn’t reached anywhere close to that mark since.
Ottawa Senators
The Senators aren’t expected to be heavy buyers for the short-term because of their place in the standings this season. There are a number of very good teams between them and a playoff spot, so their interest in Dumba must lie in a sign-and-trade. It is no secret that the team’s right side of the back-end is very weak and Dumba would shore up the top-four playing beside either Thomas Chabot or Jake Sanderson.
The Wild have been rolling with seven defencemen which is the reason why they are willing to listen to offers on Dumba. That $6 million taken up by Dumba could be useful for them to upgrade the depth up front and become a more serious contender this season. The Senators could help out with that in a trade as well since Tyler Motte is a UFA at the end of the season for a small cap hit. He may not have great numbers this season, but he was effective in 2021-22.
Matt Dumba is a name you should be watching for at the deadline this season. It’s not often that a playoff team is looking to move a big chip like that.
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