By Michael Wax
After acquiring forward Anthony Duclair last night, the Tampa Bay Lightning completed their second and final trade of the NHL trade deadline 15 minutes before the deadline by acquiring defenseman Matt Dumba, and a 2025 7th round pick in exchange for a 2027 5th round pick. Dumba is a pending UFA at a $3.9M cap hit, and the Lightning assigned defensemen Emil Lilleberg and Max Crozier to make the numbers work.
What the Lightning Got
For a team that is desperately in need of defensive help, they’re not quite going to get a solution with Dumba. In 656 games over 11 years between the Minnesota Wild and Arizona Coyotes, Dumba was an offensive defenseman, registering 83 goals, and 163 points. Dumba also qualified for the postseason in eight of his previous ten seasons.
In 58 games with the Coyotes this season, Dumba had four goals and six assists for 10 points while registering a -13. Part of that had to do with Arizona not being the greatest defensive team, while part of that was also due to not being the best defensive defenseman. Dumba's approach to guard the blue line goes one of two ways: either he stands his opponents up at the blue line, preventing entry, or the opponent will make a move on him and get a great scoring opportunity. It remains to be seen how Dumba's defensive game is going to to a defensive system that Lightning still aren’t used to despite it being March.
The 29-year-old averaged 20:04 time on ice, a number that was third most among all Arizona skaters and will certainly decrease on the Lightning. Dumba is 6-foot, 181-pound Dumba has a 150 hits and 84 blocked shots so far this year. Dumba also won the 2019-20 King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership and humanitarian contributions off the ice.
Another piece of good news for the Lightning in this trade is that they obtained a 2025 7th round selection while while only giving up a 2027 5th round pick. This gives the Lightning six 7th round picks in the next two drafts, something that is virtually unheard of in the NHL.
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