Dubnyk grateful for 'exciting opportunity' after trade to Avalanche

Devan Dubnyk was traded to the Colorado Avalanche by the San Jose Sharks on Saturday for defenseman Greg Pateryn.

San Jose also received a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft for the goalie, who is in the final season of a six-year contract he signed with the Minnesota Wild on June 27, 2015, and can become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

"It's an exciting opportunity for me, obviously, one of the best teams in the League," Dubnyk said Sunday after reporting to the Avalanche. "I've been on the other side of the firepower many times, so it's nice to be on the right side."

Dubnyk's arrival was well received by his new teammates, who said they are confident they can be among the favorites in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"I think it sends a pretty strong message that [general manager Joe Sakic] believes in this group and that we are trying to make a run at this thing," Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "That's been no secret since Day One of training camp. Looking at our roster and looking at the team that we have, we know this is a really good year for us and a real good opportunity for us to definitely go after this thing, and we're excited and got a lot of work ahead of us.

"It's not going to happen overnight, but we're excited about where we're at in the standings and have an opportunity to win our division and keep working ahead of the playoffs."

The Avalanche (28-9-4) are four points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the eight-team Honda West Division; the Sharks (18-18-4) are in sixth, four points behind the fourth-place St. Louis Blues. The top four teams will qualify for the playoffs.

With Pavel Francouz having not played this season because of a lower-body injury, Colorado previously acquired goalie Jonas Johansson in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres on March 20. Johansson is 3-0-1 with a 1.87 goals-against avervage and .929 save percentage in five games (four starts) since the trade, including his first NHL shutout in a 2-0 win at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.

"We saw last year how important goalie depth is in the playoffs, actually over the last few years," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "And to be able to acquire the two guys we've acquired here recently, I think it just makes our team deeper and stronger, and to add the veteran leadership and guys who have sort of been there before going into this time of the year is real important."

Dubnyk was 3-9-2 with a 3.18 GAA and .898 save percentage in 17 games (13 starts) for San Jose. The 34-year-old was acquired by the Sharks in a trade from the Wild on Oct. 5.

Selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round (No. 14) of the 2004 NHL Draft, Dubnyk is 250-204-54 with a 2.60 GAA and .914 save percentage in 537 games (509 starts) with the Sharks, Wild, Arizona Coyotes, Nashville Predators and Oilers. He is 8-18 with a 2.72 GAA, a .904 save percentage and two shutouts in 26 NHL playoff games.

Dubnyk used a car service for the six-hour ride from San Jose to Anaheim to meet the Avalanche, who defeated the Ducks 4-1 on Sunday, when Johansson made 24 saves.

"Obviously, bit of a whirlwind yesterday when you get told and trying to figure life out a little bit," Dubnyk said. "But when I was sitting in the car, it kind of hit me a little bit how great of an opportunity this is to have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. So that was fun yesterday when it kind of hit me and [I] started to think about it and think about how exciting this opportunity is."

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Bednar said he expects Dubnyk and Johansson to each play behind starter Philipp Grubauer, who is second in the NHL with 24 wins, one behind Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and tied for the lead with 33 games played (Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets). Grubauer has a 2.00 GAA, a .919 save percentage and five shutouts this season.

"It's a busy schedule going down the stretch," Bednar said. "We know we want to give 'Grubi' some rest; he's getting some right now. This is a much-needed break for him getting ready for the stretch run, and heading into the playoffs we want to make sure he's rested and healthy. He's obviously our No. 1 and the goalie depth is real important."

On Friday, Colorado acquired defenseman Patrik Nemeth in a trade from the Detroit Red Wings for a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.

Nemeth is expected to join the Avalanche on Monday or Tuesday. The 29-year-old, who can become an unrestricted free agent after this season, has scored eight points (two goals, six assists) in 39 games this season. He previously played for Colorado from 2017-19.

Bednar said defenseman Erik Johnson, who hasn't played since Jan. 30 because of an upper-body injury, is expected to be out for the season.

"To add veteran guys like 'Nemo' into the mix, it gives us more options," Bednar said. "He's a guy that has a specialty too, and that's penalty killing. He's been an outstanding penalty killer for us before, he's had a good two-year run in Detroit where he's logged a lot of minutes and been relied on on the defensive side of things, and that's what we see him bringing to us. He's another veteran guy that's hungry in trying to win a Cup and that we know and everyone in our room likes him."

Pateryn is in the final season of a three-year contract he signed with the Wild on July 1, 2018, and can become an unrestricted free agent after the season. The 30-year-old has no points in 11 games this season with the Avalanche and Wild.

"He's a quality defenseman," Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said. "He was involved in a trade earlier in the year (with the Wild on Jan. 19) for Ian Cole. We know him, he's a big right-shot defenseman who's played on some very good hockey teams. … Greg's a good player and we're looking forward to him coming and joining us too."

Selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the seventh round (No. 128) of the 2008 NHL Draft, Pateryn has scored 41 points (four goals, 37 assists) in 278 regular-season games with the Avalanche, Wild, Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens, and has three assists in seven playoff games.

NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers and independent correspondent Rick Sadowski contributed to this report