Anton Khudobin

Anton Valerievich Khudobin (Антон Валерьевич Худобин; born 7 May 1986) is a Kazakhstani-born Russian professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently under contract with HC Sibir Novosibirsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

At the end of this 2003–04 hockey season, Khudobin was drafted by the Minnesota Wild at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft in the seventh round, 206th overall.

Khudobin then played as a backup for Metallurg before deciding to move to North America and play in the Canadian major junior hockey system.

Nicknamed "Dobby", Khudobin was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the seventh round, 206th overall, at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, playing for the organization for three-and-a-half years before joining the Boston Bruins via a trade in 2011.

He was a consistent starter for Russia's national junior squads, earning a gold medal with the under-18 team at the 2004 IIHF World U18 Championships and silver medals with the junior team at the 2005 and 2006 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

He opted to join the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League (WHL) for the 2005–06 season, helping them to their best regular season finish in over a decade and backstopped them past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in six years.

In 2006, Khudobin returned to Russia and took over back-up goaltending duties for Metallurg in the Russian Superleague (RSL), helping the team to the league championship.

In the summer of 2007, however, three years after initially being drafted, Khudobin signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Wild.

Khudobin spent the following season splitting time between the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Houston Aeros and the ECHL's Texas Wildcatters, earning top ECHL goaltender honors for 2007–08.

In 2009–10, he made the full-time jump to the Aeros and later made his NHL debut for the Wild on 4 February 2010, replacing the injured Josh Harding in a 4–2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

He made his first NHL start two days later on 6 February 2010, stopping 38 of 39 shots in a 2–1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Following a 24 September 2010, pre-season hip injury to Harding, the Wild's full-time back-up goaltender, Khudobin was expected to take over that role for the Wild.

However, the Wild instead signed José Théodore to a one-year contract, leaving Khudobin in the number-three position.

Soon after the signing Khudobin was returned to Houston.

However, due to the fact that he did not play for Boston during the 2010–11 season, his name was not engraved on the Stanley Cup.

Khudobin was recalled by the Wild on 8 January 2011 to back-up Théodore after starter Niklas Bäckström suffered a strained hip flexor.

On 12 January, Théodore suffered a similar injury, and Khudobin replaced him in the third period of a 5–1 loss to the Nashville Predators.

After a 4–1 loss to the visiting Colorado Avalanche on 14 January, Khudobin posted his first career NHL shutout, making 32 saves in a 4–0 win over the visiting Vancouver Canucks.

Nearing the 2011 NHL trade deadline, Khudobin was traded to the Boston Bruins on 28 February 2011 in exchange for Jeff Penner and Mikko Lehtonen.

Khudobin was then assigned to the AHL's Providence Bruins.

Khudobin played in 16 games for the Providence Bruins, posting a 9–4–1 record with a 2.40 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.

As a result of his strong season, he was called up as an emergency goalie for Boston during their 2011 Stanley Cup playoff run.

He was included in the team's celebratory picture after Boston won in the Finals and was also awarded a Stanley Cup ring for his inclusion in the squad.

On 1 July 2011, Khudobin signed a new two-year contract with the Bruins.

While playing in Providence, Khudobin suffered an injured wrist during a game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and was unable to replace Tuukka Rask at the NHL level when he was injured in March.

Khudobin needed nearly a month to recover and rejoined the AHL's line on 23 March for a game against the Manchester Monarchs.

As Rask was expected to miss 4–6 weeks, Khudobin was immediately assigned to the Bruins' lineup.

He played his first game with the Bruins that night on 5 April 2012, earning a win against the Ottawa Senators.

He later served as backup to Tuukka Rask during the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season.

He signed as a free agent with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2013 and was extended before being traded to the Anaheim Ducks in 2015, then re-signing with the Bruins in mid-2016, and then signing a two-year deal with the Dallas Stars as an unrestricted free agent.

Born to a Kazakh father of Russian descent, Valeri, and a Russian mother, Tatiana, Khudobin began his hockey career in his native Kazakhstan but moved to Russia at age 13 and joined the Metallurg hockey school in Magnitogorsk in order to develop his game at a higher level.

On 5 July 2013, the Carolina Hurricanes signed Khudobin as a free agent to one-year, one-way contract paying $800,000.

His early start with the team began slowly after suffering an ankle injury on 13 October against the Phoenix Coyotes, resulting in a temporary conditioning stint in the AHL.

Despite this, in his first year with the team he posted a 13–8–0 record with 2.17 goals-against average and .927 save percentage over 22 games.

By January, he was named the NHL's First Star for the month after tying a franchise record for wins in a month with 10 and registering a goals-against average of 2.19 in 14 games.

At the conclusion of the season, the Hurricanes President and General Manager Jim Rutherford re-signed him to a new two-year, $4.5 million contract, saying "he has played well this season and signing him helps solidify our team’s goaltending situation."

Following a successful season which saw him posting team-highs in save percentage and wins, Khudobin suggested that he felt he would supersede his fellow goaltender Cam Ward as starting goaltender for the team the following year.

During the 2014–15 season, Khudobin battled against Cam Ward to solidify his spot as the Hurricanes starting goaltender.

After the firing of coach Kirk Muller and the hiring of David Marcoux as their newest goaltending coach, the two began to split the starting position.

Marcoux said that he sees "it as two goaltenders who want to be part of the solution here...I appreciate their work and their positive attitudes, and both goalies are supportive of each other."