It’s not clear if Braden Holtby was actually ever officially available in trad ahead of this season’s NHL Trade Deadline, but the Dallas Stars are very unlikely to trade him now considering the injury news on Anton Khudobin. The Stars have announced that Khudobin will undergo right arthroscopy and labral repair. He will be out for six months. Seeing as the Stars are still in a playoff hunt, Holtby will be needed down the stretch and unless the Stars are already writing off the season, a trade simply doesn’t make sense.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes, “With the Dallas Stars update that Anton Khudobin is out the rest of the season, it’s safe to say Braden Holtby will remain with the team. Stars — in TOR tonight — are one point out of the playoffs, but with multiple games in hand.” Meanwhile, Holtby himself is still hampered by a lower-body injury so this is a tricky time for the Stars.
Things could change here over the next few days but expect another potential goaltender to be off the market as teams scour the league for netminders who can offer them a bit more insurance. Semyon Varlamov and Marc-Andre Fleury are still the two biggest names out there, with someone like Anton Forsberg being a 1B type of plan.
Can a team like Edmonton, Toronto or other clubs that feel their goaltending isn’t up to par convince one of these two netminders to waive their no-trades to join them for a playoff run? Or, will this be a deadline where very few goalies move?
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