NHL rumors: 5 goaltenders the New Jersey Devils could trade for

3. Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota Wild

Wild general manager Paul Fenton has been rightly aggressive in breaking up the pieces of an underachieving core, with deals that moved Nino Neiderreiter, Charlie Coyle and Mikael Granlund as last year’s trade deadline approaches and Jason Zucker seemingly next up to be moved.

Fenton is apparently leaving absolutely no stone unturned though, with indications he has shopped veteran winger Zach Parise since the draft in June. That opens the door to anyone being dealt, including Dubnyk until further notice.

Dubnyk has been a stable, if slightly overworked, presence in goal for Minnesota. He has shown signs of gradual decline, and at age 33 he doesn’t fit what appears to be a move toward youth by Fenton.

Craig Leipold clearly doesn’t like the general direction taken by Fenton, the signing of Mats Zuccarello aside, as he has professed a win-now from his perch in the owner’s suite. On Monday, after just one season on the job, Fenton was fired.

It’s unclear how a general manager change will change things in the short-term, if at all, so Dubnyk could still be on the periphery of any radar to be traded.

Dubnyk’s $4.33 million cap hits for each of the final two years of his contract would fit just fine on the Devils’ balance sheet, and they could send a future first-round pick (along with Schneider?) Minnesota’s way to get a solid upgrade between the pipes.