Anton Khudobin
This one could be the most intriguing while not being as expensive as Robin Lehner. This is undoubtedly an upgrade on how Schneider has currently been playing. Some say that Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin is the best goalie tandem in the league. Neither of them is the best actual goaltender, but together it’s hard to fight their stats.
Khudobin was great this season. At 34 years old, he put together a .930 save percentage. This isn’t exactly out of the ordinary for him, either. He’s had a save percentage north of .920 in four of his eight seasons. Khudobin has been at his best the past two seasons. Bishop has been really good himself, which is why he’s still the starter, but to have someone just step in and be as good as Khudobin has been a major win for the Stars.
The Devils would love to have Khudobin as the backup, even if they have to overpay a little to bring him in. He might cost around $4 million per season, but we think he’d accept a two-year deal. That kind of money seems like a lot for a backup in a year where there’s an abundance of backup options, but again this is a very important position for the Devils.
The big issue for the Devils here is the Stars. Even if the salary cap stays stagnant, the Stars have around $18 million in cap space. They are losing contracts like Corey Perry, Roman Polak, Mattias Janmark, and Andrej Sekera. None of those players are really driving inspiration, so the Stars can focus on bringing back Khudobin and replacing the rest of the players with low-cost options and prospects.