Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk won one of the two awards that he was a finalist for during Wednesday night’s NHL Awards ceremony in Las Vegas.
Dubnyk won the 2015 Masterton Trophy and finished third in the voting for the Vezina Trophy.
For great perseverance and dedication to hockey, the 2015 Masterton Trophy winner is Devan Dubnyk. #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/FgLAXsYZSn
— NHL (@NHL) June 25, 2015
This embed is invalid
The Masterton Trophy is given annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
The award ends a whirlwind year in Dubnyk’s life. After a disappointing 2013-14 season that ended with him in the minors, he was signed as a free agent by Arizona to serve as a backup goaltender.
With the Wild’s playoff hopes fading, he was traded to Minnesota on Jan. 14. Dubnyk started a franchise-record 38 consecutive games in the net and finished 27-9-2 for the Wild over the second half of the season.
The Star Tribune notes during that stretch, Dubnyk had a 1.78 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage along with five shutouts.
Unsigned Dubnyk, #mnwild GM Fletcher have 'good conversation' during meeting in LasVegas. http://t.co/ovGLgESOGP #NHL pic.twitter.com/ie6Z6QsNEA
— Star Tribune Sports (@StribSports) June 23, 2015
Dubnyk became the second Wild player to win the award, which is named after former North Star Bill Masterton. In 2013, Josh Harding won the award while battling multiple sclerosis.
#MNWild goalie Devan Dubnyk: "What a year. It's been well documented — last year was tough for me." Thanked Coyotes and Wild.
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) June 25, 2015
Dubnyk also finished third in the voting for the Vezina Trophy – which goes to the league’s top goaltender. This year that award went to Montreal’s Carey Price.
2014-2015 Vezina Trophy Voting. #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/6BFBhsfZQy
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 25, 2015
But the future for the 29-year-old goaltender is far from decided. Dubnyks’ contract with the Wild is expiring and he will become a free agent July 1, unless he reaches an agreement on an extension with the team before then.
Wild GM Chuck Fletcher met with Dubnyk on Tuesday. Afterward, Dubnyk told reporters he would like to return to Minnesota, so both sides are trying to work something out.
Fletcher is also supposed to meet with Dubnyk’s agent later this week in Florida.
