Looking at Options to Improve Oilers Goaltending Situation

2. Anton Khudobin

Another goaltender who has been linked to the Oilers in recent days is Dallas Stars netminder Anton Khudobin. The Stars currently have Jake Oettinger, who was their first rounder in 2017 and had a great rookie season in 2020-21, as well as Braden Holtby who they just signed as a free agent, and Khudobin all under contract headed into the 2021-22 campaign.

On top of those three, they also still have Ben Bishop under contract, though there have been whispers his career may be over due to injuries. Even if that is the case, they will need to move one of the three netminders mentioned above, and it certainly won’t be Oettinger who has all makings to be their future franchise goalie. It also likely won’t be one of their most recent acquisitions in Holtby, making Khudobin the odd man out.

Khudobin has established himself over the years as a really good 1A/1B type goaltender, which could work with the Oilers. He does come with some risk however, as at the age of 35 he has two years remaining on a contract with a cap hit of $3.33 million and struggled last season, posting a 2.54 GAA along with a .905 SV%. This one would only make sense if the asking price was quite low.