Central Notes: Dubnyk, Bishop, Tarasenko

With free agency approaching quickly, the buyout window opens up on Friday.  One player that has been a speculative candidate to be bought out is Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk.  He’s coming off a tough season that saw him post a 3.35 GAA and a .890 SV% in 30 games, numbers that aren’t good enough to justify his $4.33MM cap hit.  However, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that at this time, Minnesota isn’t planning to buy the 34-year-old out.  With Alex Stalock outplaying him this season and Kaapo Kahkonen getting closer to being NHL-ready, it’s difficult to see where Dubnyk will fit for them next season but at this point, they’re not prepared to pay him to not play for them.

Elsewhere in the Central Division:

• Stars goaltender Ben Bishop will not be available when they start the Stanley Cup Final tonight, relays Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The veteran has had the designation for most of the postseason although he made a surprise start in the fifth game of their series against Colorado though he didn’t make it through a period before being pulled.  Jake Oettinger should remain Anton Khudobin’s backup until Bishop is cleared to return.  Radek Faksa and Stephen Johns remain out as well.
• Blues GM Doug Armstrong told Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Vladimir Tarasenko’s shoulder surgery went well and that they believe the initial recovery timeline is intact. That would have him being evaluated sometime in February with a return coming after that.  Even if next season is delayed from the planned December 1st start date (a likely scenario at this point), it appears as if the winger will still miss some time.  Armstrong also added that “a couple” of other players underwent minor procedures although he declined to mention who or what needed to be done.