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Minnesota Wild sign defenseman Matt Dumba to two-year, $5.1M contract

Minneapolis, MN - FEBRUARY 21: Matt Dumba #24 of the Minnesota Wild passes the puck against the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2016 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series on February 21, 2016 at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
(Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Minnesota Wild and restricted free agent defenseman Matt Dumba agreed to a two-year contract worth a total of $5.1 million.

This gives the 22-year-old Dumba a $2.55 million salary cap hit over the next two seasons.

With Dumba’s signing the Wild have all their core blue liners locked up through at least the next two years. This includes Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin and Marco Scandella.

Last season was Dumba’s first full year in the NHL. He finished with 10 goals and 26 points in 81 games played. Dumba also averaged 16:50 of ice-time per-game.

He held a 47.56 score and venue adjusted 5-on-5 CF% and his 5-on-5 CF% Rel was a minus-0.71.

Earlier in the summer the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that a bridge deal was the likeliest scenario between Dumba and the Wild. Dumba’s name has also been mentioned in rumors involving Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins during the summer.

Dumba was the seventh overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft.

Hockey and Wilderness pointed out that Dumba could flourish under new coach Bruce Boudreau next season. Boudreau has said he wants to spread out the team’s defense minutes, rather than loading up Ryan Suter with near 30 minutes per-night.

One of the major positives about Boudreau is that he allowed young defenders Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen to step in at a very young age and play significant roles by playing them for 20 minutes and 18 minutes per game, respectively. Compare that to Matt Dumba, drafted one spot behind Lindholm, who averaged just under 15 minutes per game in his first season, and Mike Reilly who played 12 minutes per game. It’s pretty hard to develop consistency as a young player when your coach doesn’t even come close to giving you consistent minutes.

Dumba has one of the hardest shots on the team and Boudreau, who is known as an offensive-minded puck possession coach, could help him use this to his advantage.

Signing Dumba effectively finishes the Wild’s offseason in regards to locking up restricted free agents. According to General Fanager, Minnesota currently has $2,168,193 of salary cap space.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!