Wild not committed to Stalock, Dubnyk for next season

The Minnesota Wild are not committed to goalies Alex Stalock and Devan Dubnyk for next season, general manager Bill Guerin said Monday.

"No, the hierarchy's not clear," Guerin said. "Whoever's playing well is going to play. I was disappointed in the goaltending this year. Al had a tremendous year and Devan had an off year, and it needs to be better. That's just the way it is. And if I told you anything different, I'd be lying to you. It was not a strong point for us.

"Can those two turn it around for you next year? No, I can't say that. If we don't get the feeling that we're going to be better, then we're going to improve it."

Stalock and Dubnyk split time as the starter until Stalock emerged before the NHL season was paused March 12. He was 20-11-4 with a 2.67 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage and four shutouts in an NHL career-high 38 games (36 starts). Stalock also started all four games of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, where the Wild were eliminated by the Vancouver Canucks.

Dubnyk was 12-15-2 with a 3.35 GAA, an .890 save percentage and one shutout in 30 games (28 starts). The 34-year-old missed more than one month while dealing with an off-ice issue related to the health of his wife, Jenn, and has one season left on a six-year contract he signed July 4, 2015.

"Like I said before, there's lots of things that the people like to talk about, the storylines, but the thing is, I know I'm the same goalie I was before, and have been," Dubnyk said Sunday. "That's just the way it is, and you have to believe in yourself. Take the offseason and take a breath and start fresh coming back.

"Every year's not going to be perfect and there are a lot of different things involved that made it a tough year (for me). But you've just got to come back fresh and believe in yourself. That's what I did before. I've got no issues doing that again."

Goaltending coach Bob Mason will not return after working for the organization since 2002. Assistants Bob Woods and Darby Hendrickson were retained and will work with prospect Kaapo Kahkonen. The 23-year-old won the Baz Bastien Memorial Award as the top goalie in the American Hockey League after going 25-6-3 with a 2.07 GAA, a .927 save percentage and seven shutouts in his second season with Iowa. He went 3-1-1 with a 2.96 GAA and a .913 save percentage in five starts for Minnesota and appears poised to challenge for a full-time role in 2020-21.

"If I have an opportunity to make it better, I will," Guerin said. "But I'm also confident if those guys come back that they're going to be battling for a spot and we've got Kaapo Kahkonen pushing. It just has to be better … flat out. So I can't promise anybody a spot. ... Next year is next year and we're going to be better."