NHL Trade Rumors: Arizona Coyotes interested in Matt Dumba
The Arizona Coyotes have reportedly turned their attention from Kevin Shattenkirk and are now interested in Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba.
The Arizona Coyotes have been very aggressive this offseason under new general manager John Chayka. They surprised everybody by not only trading for the free agent rights to defenseman Alex Goligoski, but winning him over and signing him to a five year deal as well. Arizona isn’t done upgrading their blue line, as they have reportedly expressed interest in Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba — currently a restricted free agent.
As a follow to previous tweet, Shattenkirk to Coyotes is not dead, but team has had other talks. Wild RHD Matt Dumba is player of interest.
— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) June 24, 2016
The Coyotes have the 20th overall pick from the New York Rangers in addition to their original top 10 pick. It’s likely that the Coyotes would be willing to trade their second first round pick for some blue line help. While having Goligoski and Oliver Ekman-Larsson is an excellent thing and Connor Murphy and Michael Stone are solid defensemen, they need some help on the right side. Dumba would provide them with that.
It remains to be seen if the Wild would be willing to move on from Dumba, but their current cap situation might force their hand. Dumba is coming off a career season during the 2015-16, setting career highs in goals (10), assists (16), and points (26). In 152 career NHL games, Dumba has 44 points. The 22-year old defenseman would see more ice time in Arizona, as he averaged just 16:50 of ice time per game in Minnesota. He is still a very talented young defenseman who turns 22 in July, so it’s easy to see why Arizona covets him.
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