Report: Oilers, Senators interested in trading for Wild's Matt Dumba
One of the big storylines for the Minnesota Wild between now and the March 3 trade deadline is if 28-year-old defenseman Matt Dumba will be dealt before he becomes an unrestricted free agent after the season.
According to TSN's Darren Dreger, the Oilers and Senators are interested in Dumba.
"There’s no question that the Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators have reached out and do have interest in Dumba. Why wouldn’t you? He’s 28-years-old, he’s a right-shot defenceman and he’s a pending unrestricted free agent. The problem from the Wild’s standpoint is they need him. They’re playing pretty well right now. They’re not sure just yet they are ready to move on from Matt Dumba even though you look into the future and you see the cap issue of the Minnesota Wild … But the price would be high and then the Wild would have to hit the market potentially to find someone to replace Matt Dumba."
Dumba's name has been in the trade rumor mill for years. This year appears to be different in that The Athletic has long been reporting that Dumba's time with the Wild is likely coming to an end. Most recently, Michael Russo wrote:
"Even if he were willing to take a significant paycut to stay, the Wild will move on this offseason because of their perceived blue-line depth among prospects. They have playoff aspirations but may still be willing to trade Dumba in a lateral move."
If teams are reportedly interested in trading for Dumba, is he expendable when the Wild have hopes of making a deep run in the playoffs this season? That could depend largely on the availability of Brock Faber, the Golden Gophers defenseman who many believe will join the Wild once the NCAA season concludes.
The problem with Faber is that he plays for the No. 1-ranked Gophers, who could very well be playing deep into the NCAA tournament – and the Frozen Four isn't until April 6-8. If the Wild are in a tight race for a playoff spot or challenging for one of the top spots in the West, can they afford to go a month or longer without Dumba?
We'll find out soon enough...
