While it took a while, veteran UFA goaltender Malcolm Subban has found a place to play this season. After no early-season opportunities came up in the AHL, he has decided to head overseas as HC Dynamo of the Czech Extraliga announced that they’ve signed him to a deal for the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign.
The 31-year-old was a first-round pick by Boston back in 2012, going 24th overall but only got into parts of two games with them. He has also spent time at the top level with Vegas, Chicago, Buffalo, and Columbus, most recently in 2023-24. However, despite seeing NHL action in parts of eight different seasons, Subban has only played in 87 games overall, posting a 3.10 GAA and a .898 SV% while recording three shutouts.
Subban has been a regular at the AHL level for the bulk of his playing career. He split time last season between Grand Rapids on a PTO and Belleville, where he posted a 3.13 GAA and a .883 SV%.
Over his eight AHL seasons, Subban has posted a 100-84-37 record with a 2.70 GAA, a .909 SV%, and eight shutouts. However, he wasn’t in training camp with an NHL team and an opportunity didn’t come around like it did with Belleville last season so it’s no surprise he looked overseas. He’ll be aiming to perform well with Dynamo in the hopes of securing another North American opportunity next season.
What happened with him? Was there anything specific about why he didn’t develop into an NHL goalie, or is he just another “goaltending is voodoo” victim?
HC Dynamo has no real opportunity for him with a rotation of 3 strong goaltenders already. An odd team to sign with in Czechia. However I do wonder why more AHL goalies like Kasimir Kaskisuo don’t look into this very good hockey league for more goaltending opportunities.