12:30 PM, Sunday, March 12: After the callup and subsequent game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Charlie Roumeliotis for NBC Sports Chicago announces that both Khudobin and Philp have been sent down to Chicago’s AHL affiliate Rockford IceHogs. Philp received approximately 14 minutes of ice time, scoring no points and registering a single hit. Although Khudobin did dress yesterday, the Blackhawks chose to start Petr Mrazek instead. Also included in the movement today is defenseman Filip Roos also returning to Rockford. After his emergency recall on March 9th, Roos played in two games for the Blackhawks, registering zero points, with two shots on goal.
9:30 AM, Saturday, March 11: The Blackhawks acquired goaltender Anton Khudobin at the trade deadline as a salary offset to the Max Domi trade. However, they opted to keep him in the minors at the time. However, with Alex Stalock’s illness that kept him from suiting up last night, the team announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled him from AHL Rockford along with winger Luke Philp.
Khudobin hasn’t seen any NHL action this season but did get into 24 games with AHL Texas prior to the swap. However, his numbers at the minor league level weren’t the strongest as he has a 2.89 GAA with a .899 SV%, numbers that place him outside the top 30 in both categories among qualifying netminders. The 36-year-old has played in 259 contests over parts of 13 NHL campaigns, posting a 2.50 GAA along with a .916 SV%.
He’s in the final year of a three-year, $10MM contract that hasn’t aged particularly well with the bulk of that time being at the AHL level once Jake Oettinger took over as the starter in Dallas. A strong showing in the minors this season could have gotten him back in the mix for a possible NHL backup position (at a much lower price tag, of course) but that is less likely now.
As for Philp, the 27-year-old made his NHL debut back in January when he got into a pair of games and picked up his first point, an assist. He has spent the bulk of the year with Rockford where he has been quite productive, tallying 18 goals and 20 helpers in 46 contests which helped earn him a one-year extension on Thursday. Anders Bjork left last night’s game against Florida with an undisclosed injury so Philp will take his place on the roster.