from Chad Graff of the Pioneer Press,

In an attempt to decrease the considerable distance between the two sides negotiating a contract, Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher and goalie Devan Dubnyk are set to informally meet face-to-face in Las Vegas on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Dubnyk will be in Vegas to attend the NHL Awards as a nominee in two categories, the Vezina Trophy given to the league's top goalie and the Masterton Award given to the player who best exemplifies perseverance. Fletcher will be there for league meetings.

Afterward, Fletcher will head to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and meet with Dubnyk's agent, Mike Liut, Wednesday night or Thursday. Those two haven't come close to completing a new contract for the goaltender who helped lift the Wild out of a midseason tailspin and into the playoffs.

Since a meeting in Buffalo, N.Y., at the beginning of the month, little headway has been made on a new contract for Dubnyk, who otherwise is set to become a (un)restricted free agent on July 1.

"I'm still hopeful we'll get a deal done," Fletcher said. "He's certainly a guy we'd like to sign, and it's certainly our priority to re-sign him. And yet we're cognizant that ultimately he holds the cards. We'll do the best we can within those parameters."

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