 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.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.