Over the last week, I’ve been looking at six potential free agents who the Carolina Hurricanes could target this offseason. Today’s article will be the last of the series and will focus on Anton Khudobin.
Khudobin is two wins away from leading the Dallas Stars to a Stanley Cup and based on his playoff performance, you can imagine Dallas will do all they can to bring him back (plus, they do have quite a bit of cap space). However, his price tag is going to be higher and if he doesn’t re-sign in Dallas, Carolina should certainly be making some calls.
To me, Khudobin would be an ideal signing for the Hurricanes. He's been extremely effective in the postseason and has posted a .922 save percentage in 102 regular season games from the 2017-18 season to now.
As for a contract, Khudobin is already 34 years old and doesn’t have a history of playing a high number of games, so there shouldn’t be too large of an ask on either the AAV or term. I think he’s probably played his way into a three-year deal, worth an AAV around $4 million. You could imagine that no matter what the price is, it wouldn't be significantly higher than what the Hurricanes are paying either Petr Mrazek or James Reimer right now. A $4 million AAV would be low enough for the Hurricanes to bring on a top-six winger as well and wouldn’t be so long of a term that it could become a long-term problem for the team if it didn’t work out.
Bringing Khudobin back for another run in Carolina could be exactly what the Hurricanes need to go deep in the playoffs again. He may not have a track record as a starter but all signs point to the fact that he’d be able to handle taking on a permanent starting role. Given Carolina’s cap space and their needs at the moment, I’d be all for the Hurricanes making an attempt to sign Khudobin, should he hit the market.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Would you be in favour of the Hurricanes targeting Anton Khudobin in free agency?
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