The Boston Bruins are bringing back Anton Khudobin. The 30-year-old netminder rejoins the Bruins on a two-year deal for a reported cap hit of $1.2 million. He last played for Boston in 2013, going 9-4-1 with a .920 save percentage. He’s since played for Carolina and Anaheim, with a few stints in the AHL.
Khudobin will back up Tuukka Rask next season. He replaces Jonas Gustavsson, who has signed with the Oilers. Gustavsson, 31, gets a one-year deal worth $800,000 in Edmonton. He’ll compete with Laurent Brossoit to back up Cam Talbot.
Another former Bruins goalie, Chad Johnson, has signed a one-year, $1.7 million deal in Calgary. He’ll back up the Flames’ new starter, Brian Elliott. (Calgary GM Brad Treliving clearly wasn’t comfortable going with Joni Ortio as his backup.)
On to Montreal, where Al Montoya has signed a one-year, $950,000 deal to back up Carey Price. Montoya, 31, moves on from Florida, which signed James Reimer to a five-year deal today. The Canadiens fell apart when Price got hurt last year. Mike Condon tried valiantly, but ultimately the job was too big for the rookie.
Finally, Alex Stalock has signed a one-year, two-way deal in Minnesota (worth $650,000 in the NHL). Stalock, 28, struggled badly last season in San Jose; hence, his inability to get a one-way contract. The Wild already have Devan Dubnyk locked up long term. Darcy Kuemper is a restricted free agent.
Update:
One more!
Jeff Zatkoff, two years, $900K AAV, to LAK.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 1, 2016
Zatkoff replaces Jhonas Enroth, who wasn’t happy with the number of games he played behind Jonathan Quick last season.