Dallas Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin out six months following hip surgery
The Dallas Stars will be without goaltender Anton Khudobin for six months following hip surgery.
In a statement released Tuesday, Stars general manager Jim Nill said the surgery was a right hip arthroscopy and labral repair. The procedure was performed by Dr. Bryan Kelly at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York on Sunday.
Khudobin, 35, has appeared in nine games this year for the Stars, posting a 3-4-0 record, an .879 save percentage and a 3.63 goals-against average. He’s been out of the NHL lineup for a while now with his last game dating back to Jan. 15. Buried in the AHL, he last appeared in a game with the Texas Stars Jan. 29.
The surgery signals to teams that goaltender Braden Holtby is off the trade board. Holtby has been a formidable backup for the Stars and, without the Khudobin safety net in the AHL, Holtby is no longer expendable. Holtby has appeared in 24 games, nearly splitting the work with Jake Oettinger, posting an above-league-average .913 SV% and a 2.78 GAA.
Dallas has clawed back into the Western Conference playoff hunt, jockeying for position in the standings with a number of other clubs.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.