Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk swats the puck away from Calgary’s Josh Jooris on Thursday (Jeff McIntosh, AP)

If the Minnesota Wild can squeeze into the playoffs, general manager Chuck Fletcher’s acquisition of goaltender Devin Dubnyk will be the best in-season trade of the NHL season.

It could be more important than the Penguins’ acquisition of David Perron to play with Sidney Crosby.

Since the Wild gave the Arizona Coyotes a third-round pick for Dubnyk, the 6-6 goalie is 4-1 with two shutouts, a 1.66 goals-against average and .931 save percentage.

Dubnyk and the Wild had a big win Thursday night, beating Calgary 1-0 to move within five points of a playoff spot.

Before Dubnyk came from the desert, goaltending was a major concern for the Wild. Their team save percentage ranked 29th out of 30 NHL teams.

Dubnyk’s .931 save percentage is far superior to the .893 figure the team owned before his arrival. Since Dubnyk arrived, the Wild have moved up to 28th in team save percentage.

Fletcher had other options, including trading for one of the Buffalo Sabres goaltenders, Jhonas Enroth or Michal Neuvirth, who seemed like intriguing options. He could have explored a bold, high-profile move like acquiring Cam Ward from the Carolina Hurricanes.

But Fletcher opted for Dubnyk, who makes $800,000 and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. The Wild’s other two goalies, Darcy Kuemper and Nicklas Backstrom, have contracts through next season. By acquiring Dubnyk, Fletcher kept his options open

In hindsight, it was the most logical move for Fletcher. Dubnyk has 188 games of NHL experience, and a career .910 save percentage. He had been sharp playing with the Coyotes this season, posting a .916 save percentage.

“I learned a lot of things from Darryl Sutter, and one of them is that you always know where you are trying to get to with your lineup,” said former Calgary Flames general manager Craig Button. “But sometimes you have to move it along incrementally. The Minnesota Wild had to find some level of consistency in their net and Dubnyk had played well in Arizona. This was not only an astute move, but a necessary one.”

Your games tonight

Pittsburgh at New Jersey, 7
St. Louis at Carolina, 7
Nashville at Colorado, 9
Buffalo at Vancouver, 10, NHL Network
Chicago at Anaheim, 10

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