Dobby is still single, which is weird. Where will the former Stanley Cup finalist end up?
Dmitry Storozhev August 3, 2023, 14:30 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
There is less than a month left until the start of the KHL regular season, and Anton Khudobin still has no club.
Speaking of the top NHL veterans for next season, I casually mentioned a dozen players over the age of 37 who are in free agent status. Even in such a relatively small company, several prominent names can be seen: here is Boston legend David Krejci, who, according to rumors, is about to announce his retirement, and the no less legendary Eric Staal, who made dust last season with Florida. , and even goaltender Mike Smith, 41, who missed all of last season but has yet to officially hang up his skates.
More on those who have yet to say the last words in the NHL:
A single Canadian and Gretzky stalker. 7 great veterans of the new NHL season
Formally, Smith’s Russian colleague Anton Khudobin also belongs to Enkhael’s NSA. With the end of the season also came to an end the three-year contract the 37-year-old goalie signed with Dallas. The life contract that Khudobin signed with the “stars” after the heroic performance in the Stanley Cup – 2020, which allowed the Texas club to reach the decisive series for the first time in 20 years, is likely to be the last. last in his North American career, and his thorny path abroad, which included in himself, not only the AHL, but even the East Coast League, as well as the rejection draft only a year after the peak of form, will end in the Windy City: Anton’s last refuge in the NHL was Chicago.
Now all roads lead him to the KHL: After 16 years of being on the other side of the world (with the exception of a brief business trip to Atlant during the 2012 lockout), Khudobin is ready to return to Russian hockey. Anton himself has repeatedly stated his desire to finish his career at Metallurg Magnitogorsk, where he once took his first steps as a professional – retirement, ”the goalkeeper shared in an interview with the“ Championship ”in the winter of 2022.
He also showed a rare video of the only goal of his career:
Exclusive
“It’s a mystery to me why I stopped playing in Dallas. It’s been going on for more than one season.”
Naturally, Magnitogorsk was the first club with which rumors connected the experienced goalkeeper. However, according to the player’s agent, Alexander Chernykh, there was no “unequivocal answer” from the club from the South Urals. Which is rather strange, given the current Steelworkers goalkeeping corps: after the departure of Eddie Pasquale, Metallurg signed only Alexander Sudnitsin, who, along with Artyom Zagidulin, still makes up the main goalkeeping pair for Andrey Razin’s team. . How reasonable it is for the club, which is traditionally one of the favorites of the season, to bet on this duo, judge for yourself, but it is felt that the presence of a goalkeeper like Khudobin, who is also motivated to play in Magnitogorsk, in this situation, at least it would not be superfluous.
Another option that Anton’s agent voiced is “Lada”. As Chernykh rightly noted, there are doubts about the completion of the Togliatti goalkeeping line, and here Khudobin would also come to court. Yes, and in the media field, such a transition would be very beneficial for Lada; after all, not every KHL club can boast of having a Stanley Cup finalist on the roster, and when it comes to a team that has just returned to the elite echelon, the effect of the transfer is doubled.
However, the “newcomers” of the KHL have already managed to get people talking about themselves:
SKA got stronger and strengthened Lada. Big KHL trade involving 9 players
By the way, about the media component – Sochi, who once loved to make noise, could also detonate an information bomb and invite a 37-year-old veteran to his place. The only question is what to do with the playing time of Maxim Tretyak, who played as many as 41 games last season.
If we consider only the game aspect, then Khudobin would be useful for most KHL clubs. For teams from the bottom of the table, he would definitely fit as the first number, and for many contenders to go beyond the first round of the playoffs, as a mentor and reliable backup (like Vasily Koshechkin, a sample of recent years), and even with a rich experience in cups (which, for example, was not enough for the ‘Siberia’ goalkeepers a few months ago).
Anton Khudobin during performances in Atlanta
Photo: Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS
Meanwhile, Dobby is still free – Anton is preparing for the new season in Krasnoyarsk, training wonderfully (as he himself says) with the local Sokol. I wonder where he will be in a month.
