Brady Tkachuk absolutely tunes Matt Dumba up in very one sided scrap

Minnesota Wild blueliner Matt Dumba is probably thankful that his scrap with Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk was a quick one this evening.

The two players squared off in the neutral zone early on in this evening and all it took really was a couple punches for Tkachuk to claim the TKO in this tilt.

Check it out:

Now, if you're asking "Haven't I seen this before?", well... kinda.

You see Dumba infamously tore his pectoral muscle in a fight with Brady's brother Matthew Tkachuk back in 2018. Dumba isn't much of a fighter and it has shown in both of his matches against the Tkachuk brothers. I'm sure old Keith is fixing to get out there soon just to give Dumba the Tkachuk trifecta.

In all seriousness, this is an absolutely pivotal campaign for Dumba and the Wild. The 28 year old blueliner is in the final year of a five year, $30 million deal that pays him an annual average salary of $6 million. That contract sounded great back in 2018 when it was signed and Dumba was coming off a 50 point season, but since then he has failed to hit the 30 point plateau. Last season he managed just seven goals and 27 points, though he was limited to just 57 games due to injury. How he plays this season will have a huge impact on whether or not he re-signs with the Wild or if he hits the open market as a free agent. There's also the possibility that Wild GM Bill Guerin floats him on the trade market in order to recoup assets for a departing player.

To me, Dumba is the type of player that you absolutely LOVE to have in your lineup when he's firing on all cylinders. The problem is that he's an incredibly streaky player who can go cold for long stretches of time. He also, as I mentioned earlier, has a difficult time staying healthy especially the past few seasons. I could see him being moved if the Wild aren't able to get things on track here in short order. Stay tuned.