NHL Rumors: Teams Calling Stars To Acquire Goaltender

The Dallas Stars have had Anton Khudobin in the AHL since last season. Jake Oettinger took over as the starter and then really had a coming out party in the first round of the playoffs. Since Khudobin's numbers were so poor, the Stars went out and acquired backup goalie Scott Wedgewood to assume that position. This has left Khudobin with a $3.33 million AAV contract in the minors, eating up much-needed cap space for the team.

The Stars don't have his entire cap hit on the books as they save $1.122 million by having him in the minors. This is still not ideal as that means they are using $2.208 million for a third goaltender. Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek said that Dallas is getting calls on Khudobin for goaltending depth. This would mean it could relieve the Stars of some cap before the deadline.

If a team is looking for goaltending depth, it means they have potentially injury-prone goaltenders and are in the playoff race. The Pittsburgh Penguins come to mind as Tristan Jarry has had trouble staying healthy. Casey DeSmith has held down the fort, but not well enough. The team hasn't put much trust into their third goalie Dustin Tokarski this season.

Besides seven starts last season that saw Khudobin finish with a .879 save percentage, he has had a very good career with a .916 career SV% and a couple of very good seasons in Dallas. His AHL stats aren't too flattering this season, but that comes with a different team in front of him. The Stars would be open to gaining any sort of asset for Khudobin and help them clear a little bit of cap. I expect the Stars to get a seventh round pick at best and clear just a little bit of cap space.