Sergei Bobrovsky finds new home after seven years, two Stanley Cups with Panthers
After seven seasons with the Florida Panthers, a run that included two Stanley Cups and a third run to the Cup Final, Sergei Bobrovsky has found his new home.
The veteran goaltender is signing a three-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs with an average annual value of $7 million, as first reported by ESPN’s Kevin Weekes and SportsNet’s Elliotte Friedman on Wednesday as the NHL’s free agency market opened.
Bobrovsky now prepares for what is likely to be the final act of his Hall of Fame career. He turns 38 in September, and his new deal has him under contract until he is 41.
He enters the season seventh in NHL history in regular-season goaltender wins (456) and tied for 26th in shutouts (53). He needs just 44 more wins to become the fourth goaltender to accumulate 500 career wins, a feat only accomplished by Martin Brodeur (691), Marc-Andre Fleury (575) and Patrick Roy (551).
His 61 career playoff wins are tied for 15th in NHL history, and his six shutouts are tied for 29th.
The deal also signals the finality of his Panthers tenure, one that started off rocky but ended with a redemption arc that made him a two-time champion.
Florida signed Bobrovsky to a seven-year, $70 million contract ahead of the 2019-2020 season. He had played nine NHL seasons to that point with the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets and had twice won the Vezina Trophy given annually to the league’s top goaltender.
And while Bobrovsky finished second in Panthers history with 201 wins (behind Roberto Luongo’s 230) and third in shutouts with 20 (behind Luongo’s 38 and Tomas Vokoun’s 23), it wasn’t all highlights.
He struggled his first season (.900 save percentage, 3.23 goals against average, 23-19-6 record), was benched in the first round of the 2021 playoffs and had uncertainty about his role entering the 2021-22 season.
Injury sidelined Bobrovsky late in the 2022-23 season as Florida made its push to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs, with Alex Lyon leading the charge in net during the Panthers’ final surge up the standings. Bobrovsky took over in net for good late in Game 3 of the opening round against Boston, helped rally Florida from down 3-1 in the series to advancing in seven games. The Panthers marched all the way to the Stanley Cup Final after that before losing to Vegas in five games in the Cup Final.
They wouldn’t lose a playoff series the next two years, with Florida winning back-to-back Stanley Cups and Bobrovsky posting a .910 save percentage, 2.26 goals against average and five shutouts in 47 games over those two playoff runs. He joined the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy as the only Russian goaltender to win multiple Stanley Cups.
Now, Bobrovsky moves on to his next — and likely final — chapter.
This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 2:05 PM.
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