{"id":137780,"date":"2023-06-09T15:01:51","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T19:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=137780"},"modified":"2023-06-09T15:01:51","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T19:01:51","slug":"minnesota-wild-matt-dumba-contract-expiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2023\/06\/09\/minnesota-wild-matt-dumba-contract-expiring\/","title":{"rendered":"The Minnesota Wild Will Suffer With the Matt Dumba Contract Expiring"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Matt Dumba<\/a>, being a defenseman on the Minnesota Wild has become a part of his identity. Drafted by Minnesota in 2012, Dumba has spent his entire National Hockey League career in the Wild’s red and green colours. However, his time with Minnesota may be up. With Dumba\u2019s contract expiring, his net value is too much of a price for the cap-strapped Wild to pay. More likely than not, we will see the defenseman sign elsewhere this offseason<\/a>. Here is what the Wild will be losing with Dumba\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n

The Minnesota Wild Will Suffer with the Matt Dumba Contract Expiring\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

What Matt Dumba Brought to the Wild\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Leadership<\/strong><\/h4>\n

First and foremost, leadership may have been the most valuable asset the alternate captain brought to the Wild. With the Zach Parise<\/a> and Ryan Suter<\/a> buyouts, Dumba was able to step up and become a welcoming leader to a team filled with new players. Teammates report that Dumba was a favourite in the locker room.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s among the more vocal guys, if not the most vocal guy, on this team,\u201d veteran winger Ryan Reaves<\/a> said after losing to the Dallas Stars in Game 6<\/a>. \u201cI could see how sad he was at the end of the game thinking it might be his last game (with the Wild). You never know what happens. If I\u2019m back, I hope to see him back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Others have commented on Dumba\u2019s ability to bring his teammates together. For example, during the 2022-23 All-Star break, Dumba organized nearly the entire Wild team to go to Cabo for a week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe brings guys together, and he plays hard every time he steps on the ice,\u201d future-hall-of-famer Marc-Andre Fleury<\/a> said. \u201cI think he leads the way that way. I definitely feel lucky that I got to play with him for a year and a half here.\u201d Fleury commented, referring to Dumba’s expiring contract.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Locker Room Energy<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dumba understands how to balance intensity and calmness in the locker room, and he helped his teammates navigate through those emotions too. All-in-one, Dumba can play the hype-man, as well as ease any detrimental anxieties the team faced.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGreat opportunity we have right in front of us, hey? It\u2019s going to be given to you, go out there and take it,\u201d Dumba said to his teammates before playing Dallas in Game 1.<\/a> \u201cWe\u2019ve got it in here, I know we do, I know we do!\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Firing up his teammates comes easy to Dumba, and so do the pranks. One of Dumba\u2019s most well-known pranks is when he covered centerman Joel Eriksson Ek\u2019s car in thousands of Post-it notes<\/a>. Another is when he filled winger Brandon Duhaime\u2019s car to the brim with packing peanuts<\/a>. Both pranks successfully ignited the team in comradery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Impact on Ice\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

With 79 career goals<\/a>, Dumba ranks second among all Wild defensemen. However, Dumba contributes to the Wild\u2019s success in several other ways. The defenseman\u2019s physicality and willingness to battle is something the Wild have always appreciated. With 816 total career hits, Dumba ranks first among Wild defensemen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think [physicality] definitely can swing things. No one likes getting hit, that\u2019s just facts,\u201d Dumba stated<\/a>. \u201cSo, just bringing that every night and trying to hold guys accountable through the middle of the ice is fun.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most notably, Minnesota is going to have to find a defenseman who will be able to fill up Dumba\u2019s ice time. Last season, Dumba spent an average of 21 minutes and 17 seconds each game running the blue line. The Wild will either need to find someone new to fill those minutes or rely on rookie defensemen Calen Addison<\/a> and former Gopher Captain Brock Faber<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mentor Behavior\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Lastly, Dumba is widely respected for philanthropy and accountability. Strangers and close friends alike have commented on Dumba\u2019s caringness for others, morals, and determination to use his platform in a positive way. Dumba\u2019s contributions start on the ice, go outside of the locker room and linger in Minnesota\u2019s very own communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In January 2020, Dumba was driving home from a late game when he noticed a car stalled on the side of the road. Dumba pulled over to find a family stuck in the Minnesota cold with no way to get home. Dumba stayed, helped the family fix their car, and asked for no recognition in return. Even so, Dumba\u2019s good deed made the news.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The humanitarian resume continues. Dumba\u2019s achievements include the King Clancy Memorial Trophy winner in 2020<\/a>,\u00a0 Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy finalist in 2021, the Wild\u2019s inaugural Tom Kurves Humanitarian Award winner in 2023, a nominee<\/a> for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy again in 2023, Founding Member of Hockey Diversity, which works to combat racism within hockey, and much more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What does this mean?\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Ultimately, Minnesota will be losing a great hockey player and an even greater person. If or when Dumba signs with another team this offseason, that franchise will gain much more than a strong defenseman. Regardless, Dumba\u2019s impact on the State of Hockey will be lasting. The Wild will surely miss the defenseman. In his exit interview, Dumba admitted he hadn’t thought much about his expiring contract but knows he will miss Minnesota.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart is definitely here in Minny. I want to win. I want to win here,\u201d Dumba said<\/a>. \u201cBut I really don\u2019t know what lies ahead. I haven\u2019t really given it too much thought. We\u2019ll just see how the chips fall.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love Minny,\u201d he continued. \u201cMade so many friends here, put down some roots, a house here. It means a lot to me. And just how I\u2019ve been able to be in the community and try to use my platform for good and make a difference, it\u2019s been just as fulfilling, if not more, for me going through all this and the connections I\u2019ve made. Yeah \u2026 yeah \u2026 yeah, I love Minny.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Matt Dumba, being a defenseman on the Minnesota Wild has become a part of his identity. Drafted by Minnesota in 2012, Dumba has spent his entire National Hockey League career in the Wild’s red and green colours. However, his time with Minnesota may be up. With Dumba\u2019s contract expiring, his net value is too […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4643,"featured_media":138119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,4547],"tags":[2722],"class_list":["post-137780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wild","category-hockey","tag-matt-dumba"],"modified_by":"Colton Osmond, Dept Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4643"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}