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Matt Dumba

Stars Activate Matt Dumba From Injured Reserve

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The Stars will have defenseman Mathew Dumba’s services again starting tonight against the Sabres. He’s been activated from injured reserve and will dress in Buffalo, relays the team’s Mike Heika.

Dumba has skated less than a half-hour’s worth of game action this season. After signing a two-year, $7.5MM deal to join the Stars in free agency over the summer, he sustained a lower-body injury in just his second game of the year against the Islanders on Oct. 12. It’s an awfully quick turnaround time for the injury, which was initially feared to require surgery and had him downgraded from day-to-day to week-to-week. All in all, the 30-year-old only misses about a week and a half and four games’ worth of action.

Also returning to the ice against the Sabres tonight are forwards Tyler Seguin and Sam Steel. Neither was on IR, but Dallas returning Matěj Blümel to the minors over the weekend was still a good indication they’d be back in the fold. Seguin had a lower-body injury that had kept him out for three straight, while Steel missed just one contest with an undisclosed injury.

The Stars are looking to get Dumba back on track after back-to-back underwhelming seasons. The former top-four fixture with the Wild was let go in the 2023 offseason and signed with the Coyotes, where he struggled to the tune of 10 points and a -13 rating in 58 games before being flipped to the Lightning at the trade deadline. He was a non-factor in a bottom-four role in Tampa before signing his multi-year deal with Dallas a few months ago.

In a small sample, early signs weren’t promising. The right-shot defender logged top-pairing minutes alongside Miro Heiskanen, but the duo struggled to control play with an xGF% of just 33.3, per MoneyPuck. Dumba was held off the scoresheet in his brief stint in the lineup and logged three giveaways, but he did end up with a +2 rating and four hits.

The Stars will go back to the Heiskanen-Dumba experiment tonight, per Robert Tiffin of D Magazine. How long it remains past Tuesday’s contest remains to be seen.

Stars Place Matt Dumba On IR, Recall Matej Blumel

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The Dallas Stars have placed defenseman Mathew Dumba on injured reserve and, in a corresponding move, recalled forward Matej Blumel from the AHL. Dumba has missed Dallas’ last two games with a lower-body injury that previously carried a week-to-week designation. An IR designation will now force him out for at least one week, though his injury isn’t expected to require surgery.

Dumba signed a two-year, $7.5MM contract with Dallas this summer. He only managed one full game with the Stars before suffering his injury six minutes into game two. Dumba recorded two penalties, two blocks, and no scoring in his sole Stars appearance.

Dallas stands as Dumba’s fourth team in just the last two years – moving from Minnesota to Arizona on a one-year deal signed in the summer of 2023, then getting traded to Tampa Bay at last season’s Trade Deadline. He hasn’t found much success with any of the previous three clubs, totaling just 12 points in 76 games last season. That mark stands as a career-low for Dumba, narrowly beating out his previous career-low of 14 points, set in 79 games during his final season in Minnesota. Dallas stood as a chance for Dumba to get back on the path, and maybe even rediscover the 50-point upside he flaunted in 2017-18 – but he’ll now first have to overcome the hurdle of an extended injury. Dumba recorded 18:28 in ice time in his Stars debut. Dallas has rotated minutes between Nils Lundkvist and Ilya Lyubushkin in Dumba’s absence.

Meanwhile, Blumel could receive another chance at earning routine NHL minutes. He played in the first six games of his NHL career in 2022-23, netting one goal and a -2 to go along with the 19 goals and 44 points he managed in 58 AHL games. Blumel spent the entirety of last season in the minor leagues, ramping up his production to 62 points, split evenly, in 72 games. That mark ranked him first on the Texas Stars in goals and second in total points. Blumel sits with one goal and two penalties through two AHL games this season. He’ll likely serve as bottom-six depth as Dallas bears through day-to-day injuries to both Tyler Seguin and Sam Steel.

Matt Dumba Out Week-To-Week

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Oct. 15: Dumba has been downgraded to week-to-week, Stars head coach Peter DeBoer said Tuesday (via the team’s Brien Rea). DeBoer confirmed that he’ll miss an extended period but won’t require surgery for the injury. Alexander Petrovic was recalled from AHL Texas earlier in the day to fill his spot. However, Dumba hasn’t yet been moved to IR, with Dallas having ample roster space for an extra defender without a corresponding transaction.

Oct. 13: Dallas Stars defenseman Matt Dumba is being called day-to-day after suffering a lower-body injury in the first period of last night’s game against the New York Islanders (as per Lia Assimakopoulos of The Dallas Morning News). Dumba was hurt during his second shift of the game when he was tripped by Islanders forward Casey Cizikas, and he fell awkwardly onto his right leg, which was pinned underneath him when he fell.

Dumba left the game briefly but returned to action, played six more shifts, and finished the first period, logging 6:02 in total ice time. The 30-year-old did not come out with the team to start the second period and missed the rest of the game. Dumba was ruled doubtful about returning a short time later.

After the game, Stars head coach Pete DeBoer told the media that the Regina, Saskatchewan native will have scans taken on Monday and is considered day-to-day until they have more information regarding his ailment.

A former seventh overall pick, Dumba signed a two-year deal with Dallas on July 1st for a total of $7.5MM and has bounced around the NHL the past couple of seasons. He is no longer the impactful defender he was earlier in his career, but he remains a serviceable NHL defenseman, and his absence will create a hole on the Stars’ backend that is likely to be filled by Brendan Smith.

Stars Sign Matt Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin, Two Others

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The Stars are landing free-agent defenseman Matt Dumba, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports. He adds it’s a two-year deal worth $3.75MM per season. Dallas also announced they’ve inked enforcer Brendan Smith, who can play both defense and wing, to a one-year, $1MM deal. Additionally, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports they’ve signed defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin to a two-year deal with a $3.25MM cap hit. They’re also bringing back non-tendered RFA Nils Lundkvist on a one-year, $1.25MM deal, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Dumba was a free agent for the second straight season after having to settle for a one-year deal last summer when multi-year offers weren’t to his liking.  Unfortunately for him, things didn’t go as planned in Arizona as instead of showing that he could return to his earlier offensive success, the 29-year-old was limited to just 10 points and 150 hits in 58 games before being moved to Tampa Bay at the trade deadline.  He had a more limited role with the Lightning, notching just two assists down the stretch before logging less than 16 minutes a night in their opening-round loss to Florida.

With that in mind, it’s interesting to see that Dumba had a strong enough market to land a similar price tag to last year with an extra year.  While his stock is seemingly down, Dumba has long been a capable top-four blueliner who can log some hard minutes.  He’ll be asked to do so with Dallas following the departure of Chris Tanev to Toronto.

As for Smith, the 35-year-old comes over after spending the last two years in New Jersey, playing more of a regular role after being a depth player in previous seasons.  He collected 15 points in 63 games last season while setting new career highs in blocks (101) and hits (117).  His versatility should come in handy although at first glance, it seems as if most of his playing time should come on the back end.

Lyubushkin will also be counted on to shore up the right side of the Stars’ back end.  The 30-year-old is a bit more limited in what he can provide compared to Dumba but he can kill penalties and play on the third pairing.  Last season, Lyubushkin had eight assists, 168 blocks, and 176 hits in 74 games between Anaheim and Toronto and will likely fill a similar role to the one Jani Hakanpaa held in recent years; Hakanpaa coincidentally landed with Toronto later in the day.

Lundqvist, meanwhile, was non-tendered by the Stars on Sunday, making his return a bit more of a surprise.  Things haven’t gone quite according to plan after Dallas parted with a first-round pick to get him from the Rangers.  The 23-year-old had 19 points in 59 games last season but barely averaged 14 minutes a game.  In the playoffs, he was a frequent scratch and logged less than five minutes a night when he was in the lineup.  However, he’ll get one more chance to prove his worth with this deal although he is still controllable for three more years through restricted free agency if they want to qualify him with arbitration rights next summer.

Tampa Bay Lightning Will Not Extend Matt Dumba

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For the second straight offseason defenseman Matt Dumba will hit unrestricted free agency as his current organization will not submit an extension offer. Earlier today, David Pagnotta of TheFourthPeriod reported that the Tampa Bay Lightning will let Dumba walk to free agency; especially after re-acquiring Ryan McDonagh from the Nashville Predators.

Last summer, Dumba became an unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career after seeing his five-year, $30MM contract with the Minnesota Wild conclude. In the year that Dumba originally signed his extension with the Wild organization, he was in the midst of a 14-goal, 50-point campaign but, was unable to replicate his performance over the contract extension.

Seeing his stock drop precipitously in his last few years in Minnesota, Dumba settled for a one-year, $3.9MM contract with the Arizona Coyotes on August 6 last year. With better access to powerplay time, and immediately becoming one of the team’s best defensemen on paper, Dumba’s contract with the Coyotes was perceived to be an easy gamble on Dumba’s part.

Unfortunately for Dumba, his play in Arizona did not work out as the player had hoped, and he quickly fell down the depth chart with his poor play. Unable to generate any offense from the back end, Dumba scored four goals and 10 points in 58 games while posting a -13 rating after averaging just over 20 minutes of ice time per game.

Dumba was eventually traded to the Lightning organization for a fifth-round draft selection in the 2027 NHL Draft shortly before the deadline. Brought in primarily as additional depth due to the season-long injury of Mikhail Sergachev, Dumba would only tally two assists in 18 games for Tampa Bay.

Heading into this summer, Dumba should not expect to earn anywhere close to his nearly $4MM salary from the 2023-24 regular season. Much like his decision to sign with the Coyotes last year, Dumba will almost certainly have to look for an organization dramatically thin on defensive depth; this time on a much lower salary.

Lightning Acquire Matt Dumba

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The Lightning are nearing a trade to acquire defenseman Matt Dumba from the Coyotes, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. There is no salary retention in the trade, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic, and the Lightning are receiving a 2025 seventh-round pick along with Dumba. Tampa Bay is sending a 2027 fifth-round pick to Arizona as compensation. The Arizona Coyotes have confirmed this trade package.

Dumba sat out of Arizona’s Thursday night game for trade-related reasons, alongside fellow veteran and long-time teammate Jason Zucker. Both players were dealt ahead of the Deadline, with Arizona reeling in a sixth and seventh round pick for the pair. Dumba was in his first season with the Coyotes, signing a one-year, $3.9MM contract with the team this summer. It was the first move of his 10-year career, with Dumba spending the last nine seasons in a prominent role with the Minnesota Wild. He quickly proved to be an effective offensive-defenseman, with 11 goals and 34 points in the 2016-17 season cementing his spot in Minnesota’s lineup. The Wild sent Alex Tuch to the Vegas Golden Knights in order to guarantee they wouldn’t select Dumba in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, and Dumba awarded them appropriately, recording a career-high 14 goals and 50 points in the subsequent 2017-18 season. He was continuing his high-scoring into the 2018-19 year, with 22 points in 33 games, but lost his season to an upper-body injury in December, kicking off a nagging injury bug that’s since followed Dumba’s career. He’s only played in 70 or more games once since the 2017-18 season – coming last year, when he scored 14 points in 79 games.

Dumba’s string of injuries also represented a severe dip in scoring, with the defenseman failing to score more than seven goals in any of the last six seasons. He should have ample opportunity to fix that in Tampa, with the Lightning’s defense in shambles after losing Mikhail Sergachev to injury. Tampa has been forced to ice Darren Raddysh and Nicklaus Perbix in top-pairing roles and while each player has managed modest scoring – with 21 and 20 points respectively – they ceratinly don’t bring the pedigree that Dumba’s amassed across his 656 career games. The newest Lightning defenseman could quickly earn a top-pairing role next to Victor Hedman, unless Tampa opts to play him down the lineup, with the hopes of making their blue-line depth more cohesive.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Predators Acquire Jason Zucker

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The Nashville Predators have acquired veteran forward Jason Zucker from the Arizona Coyotes, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Zucker was scratched in Arizona’s Thursday night game for trade-related reasons, along with defenseman Matt Dumba. The Coyotes will be receiving Dallas’ 2024 sixth-round pick in return, per The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. Nashville acquired the pick at the 2023 draft when Dallas traded up into the third round. The deal notably comes with no salary retention. The teams later made the trade official.

Zucker is in his first year with the Coyotes, signing a one-year, $5.3MM contract with the team on July 1st. He’s since had a modest year, scoring nine goals and 25 points in 51 games – a step down from the 27 goals and 48 points he managed in 78 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins last year. He’ll now change hands once again, joining the fourth team of his career in Nashville. While his high scoring last season seemingly came out of nowhere, with Zucker failing to even reach 20 points in the two seasons prior, his performances in Arizona have shown he can still bring a punch to the depths of a lineup, even in year 13.

Zucker joins Anthony Beauvillier as Nashville’s newest additions – with both players likely to round out the team’s third line, filling the hole left by Yakov Trenin, who was traded to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. The Predators also acquired flexible forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan off of waivers from the Los Angeles Kings. The new pieces will help Nashville round out a bottom-six that features just three players who have crested 20 points this season. Their presence likely forces Mark Jankowski out of the lineup, while Kiefer Sherwood and Cole Smith will now have to compete for their roles.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Morning Notes: Zucker, Dumba, Villalta, Hellberg

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The Arizona Coyotes are open to trading veteran forward Jason Zucker and defenseman Matt Dumba, The Fourth Period reports. Both players are on expiring contracts and could be cheap options for added depth. Zucker has scored eight goals and 22 points in 46 games this season, while Dumba has managed just nine points in 52 games of his own.

This update doesn’t come as much of a surprise, although it does deviate from reports earlier in the season that shared the Coyotes were focused on adding older, veteran presences. But the Coyotes’ season has fallen to shambles since the calendar turned over, with the team currently riding an 11-game losing streak and sporting a 4-15-2 record in 2024. It’s been a heavy fall for a team that carried a winning record through early December. But with the losses has come a return to form for Arizona, who are once again focused on selling veteran talents to bolster their future capital. Arizona has two available salary retention spots open and may need to use them to make any trade of Zucker, who carries a $5.3MM cap hit, or Dumba, who has a $3.9MM cap hit, work for cap-strapped teams. Even then, the return for either player – one now 32 and the other struggling to produce – likely wouldn’t be too profitable for the Coyotes.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Coyotes have sent down goaltender Matthew Villalta, suggesting that Connor Ingram could be nearing a return from an undisclosed injury that’s held him out for the last week. Villalta played in his first two NHL games while filling in for Ingram, saving 24 of the 29 shots he faced in 72 minutes of ice time. He’s primarily operated as the starting goalie for the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners, where he’s managed 22 wins and a .913 save percentage in 34 games.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-assigned goaltender Magnus Hellberg to their AHL affiliate the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins just three days after recalling him. It appears the Penguins made the move as a precaution in case one of their NHL netminders were unable to play. The 32-year-old did see NHL action earlier in the year, dressing in three games for the Penguins in which he went 1-0-0 with a 2.50 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.

Coyotes’ Matt Dumba Out Week-To-Week

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Coyotes defenseman Matt Dumba is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury, per the team. The 29-year-old did not play the second and third periods of Monday’s 5-2 win over the Penguins, although it’s unclear when he sustained the injury during the first period. He did not accompany the team on their three-game road trip through the southeastern United States, and he will remain out through the All-Star break at the least, according to PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan.

It’s not all bad news on the injury front for Arizona. Per Morgan, forward Nick Schmaltz will return tonight against the Panthers after missing three games with an upper-body injury. The 27-year-old had points in six of his last eight games before exiting the lineup.

This is another dent in what’s been a trying season for Dumba in the desert. The 600-game veteran is still shouldering significant ice time, logging just over 20 minutes per game, but has just two goals and five points in 44 contests while posting some of the worst possession numbers on the team. He’s with Arizona by way of a one-year, $3.9MM contract signed in free agency last August.

While he won’t draw in tonight, per Morgan, the open spot in the lineup should provide some opportunity for 2019 11th-overall pick Victor Söderström. The 22-year-old Swede hasn’t appeared in an NHL game yet this season but has taken strides forward with AHL Tucson, leading their defensemen with 13 assists and 21 points in 38 games. The team recalled him this week in the wake of a long-term injury to another depth defenseman, Troy Stecher.

The Coyotes have kept pace in the Western Conference playoff race, sitting slimly ahead of the Predators for the second Wild Card spot by points percentage after their win over Pittsburgh earlier in the week.

Coyotes Notes: Trade Rumors, Dumba, Dermott

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Arizona Coyotes insider Craig Morgan recently shared that the team is actively looking to trade away prospects and draft picks for lineup upgrades. Morgan says this trade interest is inspired by the success of Sean Durzi, who the Coyotes acquired from Los Angeles this summer. Durzi has 12 points in his first 19 games in Arizona while averaging a monster 23-and-a-half minutes a night, three minutes more than any other Coyotes skater. The Yotes only traded away a 2024 Second Round pick for the 25-year-old defenseman and, after a modest 8-9-2 start to the season, are hoping that lineup upgrades like Durzi could kick them into gear sooner than expected.

Arizona certainly has the pieces to build around. Durzi has provided a strong boost of scoring to the blue-line, alongside J.J. Moser, who has 10 points in 19 games. The duo backs up a forward group that’s leveled out, after a top-heavy start to the year. Arizona currently has nine players with 10 or more points this season, led by Clayton Keller’s 18 points in 19 games. Matias Maccelli has continued to rack up the assists and Logan Cooley is settling into the NHL well. With the right upgrades, there’s reason to be excited about what’s going on in Mullett Arena.

Other Coyotes notes:

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