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Injury Report: Mathew Dumba - Returns Tonight vs. CHI

I really feel like we're watching a star develop in Dumba. I'm talking about a player fans of other teams tune in to watch, not just a good player. Kid can skate, shoot, fight & occasionally lay a hit. I'm really glad the Wild didn't give up on him because it's already paying off.

He's by far the most exciting player to watch when he has the puck on his stick for the wild because he's always looking to make a big play. I hope Yeo continues to let Dumba play his game, and not force him to start playing conservative.
 
Wild48 said:
I really feel like we're watching a star develop in Dumba. I'm talking about a player fans of other teams tune in to watch, not just a good player. Kid can skate, shoot, fight & occasionally lay a hit. I'm really glad the Wild didn't give up on him because it's already paying off.

He's by far the most exciting player to watch when he has the puck on his stick for the wild because he's always looking to make a big play. I hope Yeo continues to let Dumba play his game, and not force him to start playing conservative.
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I can't even begin to understand this. Just because a few posters here called Dumba a disappointment at age 20 doesn't mean the Wild were ever even close to considering the option of potentially "giving up" on him.
 
tomgilbertfan said:
I can't even begin to understand this. Just because a few posters here called Dumba a disappointment at age 20 doesn't mean the Wild were ever even close to considering the option of potentially "giving up" on him.
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Which is why he's glad that the Wild didnt share the same sentiment as some posters and didn't give up on him.

You can't begin to understand this, but all he's saying is he's glad the Wild didn't give up on him. :laugh:

I'm also glad that the Wild FO is smarter than the average HF armchair GM.
 
I'm sure some teams were inquiring about Dumba when he stock was "low" - aka 2012-13 before he got traded from Red Deer to Portland
 
I can see Dumba being top 4 material next year if he can avoid a sophomore jinx. Would love to get Spurgeon back on the team, but if we can't sign him the loss won't be quite as devastating with the way Dumbs is playing.
 
I don't want to anoint this kid before we've seen more. But considering how good he has been at 20 years old. I can't help but wonder what his ceiling is.
 
His decision making with the puck in his own zone has done a 180 degree turnaround from earlier this year. Earlier this year when he was behind the goal line, he looked like a goalie who had no idea what he was doing (like Backstrom) and would just chuck the puck around the boards and hope it gets out of the zone, and many times the opponents would keep it in and have us hemmed in forever. Now he's got a better understanding of where his defensive support is and is able to bank it off the boards around defenders to get it to his open dmen or an open forward, much like Suter and Brodin do very well.
 
^ wanted to post the same thing. Too lazy to type that out. I questioned Dumba's hockey "IQ" early this season for the same reasons you mentioned. He made some great quick decisions last night.
 
He's a game breaker. Exact opposite of a big, steady, crease clearing Dman. He will stick out on the ice, for better or worse.
 
Playing 20+ minutes a night now. When he's not putting points on the board, his +/- keeps improving which at the very least shows he's not a liability on the ice when he's not scoring.
 
His pure athleticism allows him to recover defensively and be more aggressive. It's almost like Brodin with his skating ability that he can really close the gap on forwards and be aggressive because he knows he can get back. I really like how Dumba has been stepping up at the blue line and in the neutral zone when guys skate in trying to dangle or have their heads down. That hit on Tarasenko is a perfect example. It makes players think twice about who is on the ice.

I also love that the mistake he made against Anaheim didn't snowball on him. That shows a lot of growth and maturity since last year and even the beginning of this season. Earlier in the year Dumba would've tried to make up for it all on his next shift or let one bad play carry over into the next game. Instead he came back with a strong game against St. Louis and obviously a great game last night capping it off with the OT winner.
 
Wonder how Spurgeon is feeling about Dumba's success lately. Spurgeon will get paid but must suck thinking your team found your replacement.

I don't think there is room for Spurge to count for 4.5 towards the cap.
 
GMAN23 said:
Wonder how Spurgeon is feeling about Dumba's success lately. Spurgeon will get paid but must suck thinking your team found your replacement.
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We'll always have room for the player of Spurgeon's calibre.
 
MuckOG said:
What's the point? Everything seems right with his game now.
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Because it just shows how important it is to get the kids down to the AHL and let them learn. We are also focused on the now; I still remember where Coyle, Granlund and Zucker had tremendous seasons after spending half a season in the AHL but for a while there, they were really struggling. Now that everything is in sync, everything has been running smoothly. Question is if someone throws a wrench in, how will the Wild respond? We've been lucky that we've had Koivu healthy for the majority of the year.
 
Never liked the way Dumba was progressed along. I'm not happy with how we burned a year off his ELC last season. That was a mistake. He got what, 11 games last season?
 
thestonedkoala said:
Because it just shows how important it is to get the kids down to the AHL and let them learn. We are also focused on the now; I still remember where Coyle, Granlund and Zucker had tremendous seasons after spending half a season in the AHL but for a while there, they were really struggling. Now that everything is in sync, everything has been running smoothly. Question is if someone throws a wrench in, how will the Wild respond? We've been lucky that we've had Koivu healthy for the majority of the year.
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There's been quite a few wrenches thrown so far and the Wild have answered every call.


Kuemper and Backstrom have been hurt or inneffective for stretches. And they've faced long term injuries to Spurgeon, Scandella, and Brodin amongst others. We've still yet to really see how good the d-core could be if they were all healthy together at once. (including Dumba)

Zucker's been out. Parise had a concussion. Granlund has had his usual injuries. Matt Cooke and Ryan Carter have been out as well for extended stretches among others.


Losing Koivu would definitely hurt. But I'm confident that with guys like Schroeder, Cooke, Carter, Bergenhiem/Fontaine

You could find a way to make things work.

Carter and Brodziak are both physical centers who are good defensively and on the dot. Maybe they can't produce quite as well as Koivu, but they can provide the forecheck game, cycle game, and defensive game that Yeo expects his centers to do. They'd probably have Zucker and Vanek on the wings so there's enough offense there anyways. You could put Schroeder there too. Vanek has had success with him. There's a lot of options.
 
thestonedkoala said:
Because it just shows how important it is to get the kids down to the AHL and let them learn. We are also focused on the now; I still remember where Coyle, Granlund and Zucker had tremendous seasons after spending half a season in the AHL but for a while there, they were really struggling. Now that everything is in sync, everything has been running smoothly. Question is if someone throws a wrench in, how will the Wild respond? We've been lucky that we've had Koivu healthy for the majority of the year.
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Would Dumba have been this effective had he been in the AHL from the beginning of the year, rather than gaining some experience at the professional level?
 
GMAN23 said:
Wonder how Spurgeon is feeling about Dumba's success lately. Spurgeon will get paid but must suck thinking your team found your replacement.

I don't think there is room for Spurge to count for 4.5 towards the cap.
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If Sprugeon wants big money, yes, he will be gone. But he's got a different skill set than Dumba, so there is a place for both of them on this team.
 
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