Wild's Dubnyk credits Coyotes goalie coach Burke for renewed confidence
Devan Dubnyk's head was in a bad place following a trade from the Edmonton Oilers to the Nashville Predators last season.
"It was a difficult time for me mentally and where I was with my game," Dubnyk told NHL.com's Kevin Woodley. "From a goalie standpoint, if a guy crosses the blue line with the puck and you are thinking about what you are doing, you are going to get torched, and that's kind of where I was."
Dubnyk started two games for Nashville before being traded again and buried in the AHL for the remainder of the season. His NHL career was hanging by a thread when the Arizona Coyotes signed him to a one-year deal, starting Dubnyk on the road back to relevance.
The move to Arizona put Dubnyk under the tutelage of goaltending coach Sean Burke, who simplified Dubnyk's game and got the lanky netminder to focus on staying on his skates for quicker lateral movement.
"Right from the get-go, he just put so much confidence in me," Dubnyk said of Burke. "There's no words, it's not like he pumps your tires every day, it's just the unspoken, you know he's got your back, you know he believes in you and you know he'll go to bat for you. It lets you go out there and relax and play."
The difference was noticeable once the season began and Dubnyk was stealing starts from struggling Coyotes incumbent Mike Smith. Dubnyk's strong play made him a trade commodity, and the Minnesota Wild acquired him for a third-round pick hoping he could solve their goaltending issues.
"I wanted to make sure I didn't change my approach coming here," Dubnyk said. "I didn't want to feel like I was coming in to save the day. I wanted to continue to do what I was doing in Arizona, keep working on the same parts of my game."
Seven games into his tenure with Minnesota, Dubnyk has the Wild eyeing a playoff spot again. He is 5-1-0 in seven appearances, with a 1.71 goals-against average and .935 save percentage - thanks in large part to his renewed confidence.
"Confidence is one thing and a lot of credit has to go to (Dubnyk)," Wild head coach Mike Yeo said of the team's recent success.