The Tampa Bay Lightning are acquiring Matt Dumba from the Arizona Coyotes, The Athletic’s Chris Johnston reported with under an hour to go before the 2024 NHL trade deadline.
After losing out on Noah Hanifin, watching as the defenseman was shipped from the Calgary Flames to the Vegas Golden Knights earlier this week, the Bolts are getting a solid defensive piece as they look to hold onto a playoff spot down the stretch.
A seventh-round pick in the 2025 NHL draft will be heading to Tampa Bay along with Dumba. In return, the Yotes are getting a 2027 fifth-round pick, per hockey insider Pierre LeBrun.
No salary is being retained on Dumba, which probably led to the underwhelming return for Arizona. The 29-year-old is making $3.9 million against the cap, and he’ll be an unrestricted free agent come summer.
It’s likely a rental for a Lightning team that lost Mikhail Sergachev for the season to a brutal leg injury. Tampa was considered heavy favorites for Hanifin’s services, but the Golden Knights swooped in with a great offer to acquire the defensive stalwart.
Still, Dumba moves the needle in Florida, and he should slot in on the second or third-pairing once he makes the trip across the United States.
Bolts continue to fight for their playoff lives
It’s been an up-and-down season for the Lightning, who were forced to play the first two months of the season with a backup netminder. And they haven’t gotten the caliber of goaltending from Andrei Vasilevskiy that the Russian superstar has provided in the past.
Still, the Lightning are 33-25-6 and remain in the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. The lead is just two on the New York Islanders, but there’s belief that this core — which won two straight Stanley Cups and came within two wins of a three-peat — can return to the dance come April.
That is led by Nikita Kucherov, who is putting together another Hart Trophy-caliber campaign in 2023-24 after already winning the MVP awaard once.
Matt Dumba figures to be a complementary piece of Tampa’s efforts once he gets acclimated to his new team. He could make his debut as soon as Saturday night at home against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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