At no point did Matt Dumba arguably look further away from being the player that the Minnesota Wild drafted seventh overall in 2012 than last season’s NHL playoffs.
Dumba, in his first year with the Dallas Stars, was a non-participant during the postseason, serving instead as a healthy scratch for a club that reached the Western Conference finals.
A summer trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins followed that disappointing conclusion to a campaign during which Dumba felt he didn’t meet his own expectations.
Now the 31-year-old blueliner, a veteran of 738 NHL contests, is seeking a reset in new surroundings.
“At the end of the day, when I look back and reflect, a lot of different variables that went into last year and the season that I had,” Dumba said. “I wasn’t happy with that. I had to look in the mirror this summer, challenge myself and understand that that’s not good enough.
“If I want to continue to play in this league and be a key player on teams, I’m going to have to step it up. That’s what I think I did in the summer and hopefully I come out strong here and earn that trust, not only from coaches, but from teammates.”
Dumba, a right-handed shot earning $3.750 million this season, performed well enough during training camp to make the Penguins’ opening night roster.
But less than two weeks into the season, opportunities have not been forthcoming, as Dumba’s suited up only once, serving as a healthy scratch in five of the team’s first six contests.
In his lone regular-season action to date, he skated 15 minutes, 9 seconds Oct. 14 at Anaheim, recording zero shots with a minor penalty in the Penguins’ 4-3 loss to the Ducks.
Despite the lack of early playing time, coach Dan Muse believes Dumba has a role to play moving forward.
“We have made the lineup decisions up to his point where he’s been out,” Muse said. “But I also think if you look at the back end of the training camp, especially, there was a lot of good there. When that opportunity presents itself, it’s just going to continue to build off of that (for Dumba). His practices have been good, as well. He’s a guy, too, who you can see contributions there on both sides of the ice. That’s what we’re going to be looking for.
“We think he can add something on the offensive side. But I also think that when he’s at his best and what we saw at the end of the training camp, he’s a guy who’s closing space quick, who’s in good positions there on the defensive side, both off the rush and in the (defensive) zone.”
It’s been something of a nomadic existence in the NHL for Dumba since his Wild days concluded following the 2022-23 season.
After spending the first 10 years of his career in Minnesota, Dumba played for the Arizona Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning (both in 2023-24), followed by Dallas last season.
With the Stars, he appeared in 63 games, scoring one goal with nine assists and averaging 15:18 of ice time per night.
During the peak of his Minnesota career, Dumba was averaging over 20 minutes per night while scoring 10 or more goals in four straight seasons from 2015-19.
Without an everyday role and several years after those productive campaigns, it remains to be seen whether Dumba can tap back into that kind of offensive output in Pittsburgh.
But when his name is called, Dumba aims to make the most of his chances and be an impactful distributor of the puck.
“Just be a dog,” Dumba said. “Bring that tenacity, that intangible but also I think I trust my skills that I can make plays with the puck and jump into plays. There’s a lot of great guys on this team with exceptional vision, so moving your feet and getting to those holes creates opportunities. You’ve just got to seize those.”