Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix
Is it though? It would bring Dubnyk to age 33, pretty much the swing zone of a goaltender's prime years, and at $5m AAV, that is on the low end for salary for any of the current top 10-15 goalies, which I think is a pretty fair assessment of where Dubnyk is at right now. Of course there would be some risk, there is risk with any player. Will he regress? Maybe, probably. Will he regress to his 13/14 Levels? I really doubt it. Will he provide Ramo/Hiller type goaltending at the very least? I'd bet on it. There is also the chance he is a lights out phenomenon like this year, he has proven capable of that though I would not expect it.
My point is that he is as more likely to stabilize our goaltending for the next half-decade than any of Hiller, Ramo, Lehner, Talbot, Ortio, Gillies or McDonald.... He's more proven than any of those options and he's free (trade asset wise). Not that I don't believe in our younger options, I just don't think any of them will be ready to be starter for 2-3 years, at least. We need someone to bridge that gap, as the worst thing we could do would be to rush a young goalie.
Even if we re-sign Ortio to be a $1.5m backup in a year's time, that's only $6.5m tied up in goaltending, well within the range contenders spend on the position. Not sure how that's "painting us into a corner" unless you really doubt Dubnyk's ability to play to his career averages over the next five years. I see no reason to believe he won't perform AT LEAST to that level, and that is going to cost something in UFA. At minimum, $5m AAV for a player of this caliber has to be expected, and with some term. It's not as big a risk as some think. You have to pay someone to be your goalie after all, and Devan is as good, or better, than any other option available at moment.
Sign Dubnyk, stick it to the Oilers, develop our young goalies with patience... what's not to like? Someone's got to be the starter for the short-medium term, and I'd rather him than Hiller or Ramo personally.
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