With Kari Lehtonen leaving as a free agent, the Dallas Stars have a void to fill in the back-up goaltending position, but how did his replacement fare last season?
The Dallas Stars signed Anton Khudobin this off-season after his contract with the Bruins expired, bringing in an experienced back-up.
Last Season
Anton Khudobin’s 2017-18 Grade: B+
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Khudobin was playing second fiddle to Tuukka Rask in Boston last season, and he played well for a back-up. His numbers were some of the best out of the available free agents this summer, with a .913 save percentage and a 2.56 GAA over 31 games played.
He held his own for the Bruins last year, not too far below Rask’s .917 save percentage and 2.36 GAA. Rask was certainly better and unquestionably their starter, but Khudobin didn’t look like he was clearly the back-up out there.
The Stars would’ve loved to bring in someone like Carter Hutton as a back-up, but Khudobin was the best realistic option for the team to sign, with Hutton ready to take on a starting job somewhere else. Khudobin’s contract, which is the same AAV as his last contract, fit the budget better and he should still be more than serviceable.
Last year was the best year Khudobin had since 2013-14, when he had a .926 save percentage and a 2.30 GAA over 36 games with Carolina. That was the best year of his career, and it would be great if he could replicate that again, but his numbers last year were still good.
Next Season
Khudobin’s numbers last season weren’t far from Lehtonen’s. As a back-up, Lehtonen was perfectly fine last season and he was not the reason the Stars missed the playoffs, so if Khudobin can play similarly, that’s good news for the Stars. If he can improve, that’s even better.
Khudobin isn’t going to massively transform this team, but he can at least keep the back-up goaltending level with last year. Improved goaltending is always a good thing, but that wasn’t the Stars’ biggest concern last season, so that’s okay. He just needs to provide reliable goaltending until the prospects are ready to come up. Between Colton Point and Jake Oettinger, the Stars have some good players in the pipeline, but they just need a little more development first.
There’s just one newcomer left to grade, so stop back later this week for Roman Polak’s grade before training camp gets underway.