Devan Dubnyk said his first time getting traded was difficult because he hadn't experienced it before. He ended up being traded five times and described a "really, really classy" decision by then-Sharks GM Doug Wilson.
Former NHL goaltender Devan Dubnyk discussed his experience of being traded during The Hockey News Big Show.
Dubnyk played for six different NHL teams over 12 seasons and was traded five times. Each trade felt different, as he explained what happened.
His first trade was from the Edmonton Oilers to the Nashville Predators in 2013-14.
"(It) was my first trade, so that was difficult. It was weird," Dubnyk said. "Phone call in the morning coming from the assistant GM to come to his room, and it's like, you know what's happening, but you don't really know. It doesn't really click in because it's never happened before."
Dubnyk was traded two months later to the Montreal Canadiens for future considerations, and he finished the season in the AHL. He added that the process of packing your things, saying goodbye to teammates and suddenly being part of a new organization is "really weird to get over."
The next season, Dubnyk was traded again, this time from the Arizona Coyotes to the Minnesota Wild.
"Going from Arizona to Minnesota was definitely in a more positive light," Dubnyk said. "Somebody's trying to get me rather than someone's trying to get rid of me. But it was (the) same thing, it always catches you off guard.
"Random day, middle of the afternoon, you hear rumors, you hear talks, potential, but nothing in that way. (It) kind of came out of nowhere."
Dubnyk played parts of six seasons with the Wild, the longest tenure he had with a team in his career, before being traded to the San Jose Sharks during the 2020 off-season.
When discussing that trade and the move from San Jose to the Colorado Avalanche in 2021, Dubnyk had nothing but good things to say about then-Sharks GM Doug Wilson.
"He's an unbelievable guy," Dubnyk said. "From the start of my trade from Minnesota, he called me before he made the trade to bring me to San Jose, and he asked if I was OK with it. He knew with my family coming there, he wanted to have a conversation, make sure we were comfortable going there, all these things that are just great people things to do.
"Same thing when it was time for me to get traded from San Jose, ended up going to Colorado. Just a great person... It meant a lot to me to just have that conversation, have him show that he cared."
Wilson did all this even though the Sharks weren't on Dubnyk's modified no-trade list when he was traded from the Wild, and that decision was "really, really classy" to Dubnyk.
He added that actions like this positively impact GMs' reputations and are among the factors players consider when deciding where to go.
"It is so important because players talk," Dubnyk said. "They do, especially when it comes to making a decision, a life decision on where you're going to be.
"With Doug, you look at the players he brought in and how much everybody loved playing in San Jose and made it their home, that culture he created there, because you care about people and the way that you treat them.
"I was there for four months, and I got that from him in that short amount of time; I can feel all of that from him."
Roderick Bawcutt is an intern for The Hockey News.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.