The Dallas Stars may not lose their playoff hero after all. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that the expectation is that Anton Khudobin will sign a new three-year contract with the Stars worth $3.33MM per season. LeBrun relays the full breakdown:
- 2020-21: $2.5MM
- 2021-22: $3.75MM
- 2022-23: $3.75MM
That will certainly settle the nerves of Stars fans who were worried about losing the goaltender that carried them all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, but it also means the team will be paying almost $8.5MM to a pair of aging goaltenders. Khudobin, 34, gets a bit of a raise over the $2.5MM he earned last season, while Ben Bishop is still under contract at $4.92MM for the next three years.
It also means that Jake Oettinger, who was selected in the first round in 2017, will have to wait even longer to get his chance at the NHL level. Oettinger is heading into the second year of his entry-level contract but will be an RFA before either NHL goaltender comes off the books.
Still, Khudobin clearly deserved a multi-year contract after his performance this year. Not only did he star in the postseason for the Stars, but he also led the league in save percentage during the regular season when he posted a .930 in 30 appearances. The career-backup is one of the best tandem options in the league and will now be paid like one.
Dallas meanwhile still has three important restricted free agents to sign, meaning their $10MM in cap space doesn’t leave much to spend on another free agent. Radek Faksa, Denis Gurianov and Roope Hintz are three of the most important players on the team and will all need raises at some point this offseason.
Dobby was messin’ with the NHL world! “I’m going to test the UFA market. Just kidding!”
Big fan of Khudobin and what he did, etc. but they already have Bishop signed long term and spent a first round pick on Oettinger.
This might have been an emotion over logic decision.
Bishop is better…
Your backup goaltender got you to the finals of a a tournament.
Bishy is better *if* he is healthy, which may be a concern in Big D and Oettinger is just 21 and may not be ready yet (in their eyes).
Maybe they can trade Bishop for cap space and get a young player. Then Khudobin minds the net for most of the season and if he struggles bring up the kid
Shocked they resigned him.Both it’s good we did. Don’t like the term; but will see.No need to rush Jake for the for see able time frame.