Looking For A Partner In An Anton Khudobin Trade

It’s not much of a secret that the Dallas Stars would be interested in moving Anton Khudobin. That desire isn’t for a lack of liking the player or appreciating the tremendous run he went on over the COVID-shortened 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, as well as a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in the 2020 bubble. Instead, the team has just over $7MM left in salary cap space and still needs to re-sign breakout superstar winger Jason Robertson. The remaining $7MM could, technically, be enough to sign Robertson, but clearing some, or ideally all, of Khudobins”s $3.33M cap hit would make it not only much easier to re-sign the forward, but could allow Dallas to negotiate it’s way into a max-term deal.

The problem for Dallas is that trading Khudobin is easier said than done. For one, finding a team that is interested in a goaltender who’s dealt with injuries for much of the last year who is owed a $3.75MM salary (and $3.33MM cap hit) would be difficult. Second, even if a match is found, it’s clear this would be a cap-dump and Dallas is already in a tough position with Robertson still not in camp. If Dallas wants to make that deal, they’ll have to pay the market price to do so, but before going that far, let’s take a look at their options and who Dallas could turn to.

Bury The Contract

If the Stars are unwilling to pay the price to move Khudobin, or if they genuinely cannot find a suitor, one option would be burying Khudobin’s contract in the minors. Under the terms of the current CBA, teams can bury a player and their cap hit in the minor leagues and recoup $1.125MM against the salary cap. By doing this, Dallas would give itself $8.21MM in cap space with which to re-sign Robertson. That figure might be just enough to get a deal done with Robertson, but with little coming out of the Dallas or Robertson camps when it comes to any specific figures and considering the recent contracts given to Jack Hughes, Tim Stutzle, Joshua Norris, Robert Thomas, and Jordan Kyrou, it’s not hard to believe that $8MM AAV, whether on a long or short-term deal, is only the starting point in these negotiations.

Potential Need:

Philadelphia Flyers: When talking about teams who could take on a salary-cap trade, generally the obvious rebuilding clubs with plenty of space come to mind, and that’s no exception for Khudobin. However, some would argue the Flyers aren’t in that same position, having not committed to the rebuild and without a ton of cap space. Right now,…