DALLAS — Four seasons, 100 games and one historic Stanley Cup Finals run later, the Dallas Stars have placed goalie Anton Khudobin on waivers Monday afternoon.
The Stars announced the move Monday afternoon. The team will find out if Khudobin clears waivers on Tuesday at 1 p.m. If he does, that will open up a roster spot and $1.125 million in cap space. He currently has a $3.333 million cap hit, but the Stars can only put $1.125 million in the minor leagues.
Stars general manager Jim Nill said Khudobin was waived because the team needs the roster spot, and Khudobin needs to play games, according to a report in the Dallas Morning News.
Khudobin, 35, is signed with the Stars until the end of next season. He provided a renewed vigor in the Stars' goaltending lineup alongside Ben Bishop from 2018-2020. When Bishop was injured during the 2019-2020 season, it was Khudobin, known to fans as "Dobby," who helped lead the Stars to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1999. They would lose that matchup to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games, but Khudobin recorded a .917 save percentage during the team's playoff run and 2020 Final.
This waiver move drops the Stars' depth at goalie down to two. Bishop's career is over because of a degenerative condition in his right knee, Nill announced over the weekend. Khudobin has only played seven games so far this season and hasn't gotten any playing time since Nov. 18. Jake Oettinger and Braden Holtby have been the two players in the net as of late. On top of that, Roope Hintz, Alexander Radulov and Joel Kiviranta all missed practice Monday.
But it's not all bad news for the Stars. Before it started on its three-game losing streak, the team beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-1 to extend their league-best winning streak to seven games.
At the time, that gave the Stars the longest active winning streak in the NHL, and also tied a franchise record for most consecutive wins.