How Sergei Bobrovsky went from hopeful for Panthers deal to signing with Maple Leafs
As recently as Tuesday morning, Sergei Bobrovsky thought things were going to work out with the Florida Panthers. The veteran netminder remained optimistic his camp and the Panthers would reach a deal.
Bobrovsky’s hope didn’t truly run out until Florida swung a trade for Jacob Markstrom, a deal that was finalized early Tuesday afternoon. At that point, Bobrovsky knew his seven-season run in South Florida, one that included winning a pair of Stanley Cups, was over.
Instead, Bobrovsky signed a three-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday, a deal that carries an annual cap hit of $7 million, includes a full no-movement clause over the entirety of the deal and has Bobrovsky playing for, in his words, a “historical legendary team.”
“It’s a business,” Bobrovsky said Friday. “The [Panthers] organization decided to move in a different direction, and that’s pretty much it. I respect that. I’ve got nothing against [the Panthers]. That’s hockey, and they’re responsible for their part and I respect that. In my position, I just want to keep only the appreciation, and thanks for everything they have done for me. It’s been an amazing journey for me, and I can’t thank them enough for everything they have done.”
And so ends his Panthers chapter, a seven-season journey that started off rocky but ended with a redemption arc that made him a two-time champion, and likely begins the final act of his Hall of Fame career. He turns 38 in September, and his new deal has him under contract through his age-40 season.
He enters the season, his 17th in the NHL, 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.
“Sergei is a real game-changer for us in terms of the stability, the consistency, the durability,” Toronto general manager John Chayka said Wednesday. “Obviously the resume speaks for itself, could possibly end up being the best in that position of all time. And to be able to secure a player like that for this team that’s looking to break through, we feel like it was the right player at the right time, not just on the ice but certainly off the ice, the mentorship, the professionalism, again the championship pedigree. We thought about it all different angles. The full package just made a lot of sense.
“And you always have your own opinions, but to actually be able to land a player of that caliber, you know, he’s looking to win. I think it says a lot about the organization, says a lot about the ownership, and a lot about the player and the player’s leadership. You know, he really believes in these guys, which is great.”
Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito on Wednesday reiterated that re-signing Bobrovsky was always a possibility even though a deal didn’t work out. After all, Bobrovsky was a big presence on the team. Even with a tumultuous start that saw him nearly lose his starting job midway through his contract, Bobrovsky finished his Panthers tenure ranked second in franchise history with 201 wins (behind Roberto Luongo’s 230) and third in shutouts with 20 (behind Luongo’s 38 and Tomas Vokoun’s 23).
Reports heading into the market opening on Wednesday speculated that Bobrovsky and his camp were steadfast on him getting a contract that would pay north of $40 million — first trying to get that over a three-year deal and then stretching the deal out over time to lower the average annual value (and thus the cap hit a team would take each year but over more time).
“Any time you want to re-sign a guy, you think there’s a chance,’’ Zito said. “Things happen where decisions get made and people move on. It’s a part of our game. It’s happening across the league everywhere. Nothing but appreciation, and thanks for Sergei for all he’s done for this organization and for me.”
“In every situation, you could probably try to assign something to the reason, and I think it’s just a mix of everything,” Zito added about why things didn’t work out. “Sometimes people just move on.”
Florida instead opted to go with a goalie tandem of Markstrom and backup Akira Schmid, both of whom were acquired in trades in a span of less than 20 hours. They picked up Schmid first from the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday night for a third-round pick in the 2028 draft and then swung for Markstrom, sending three forwards (Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist and prospect Ben Steeves) to the New Jersey Devils in return.
Markstrom, who at 36 is two years younger than Bobrovsky, has two years remaining on his deal that carries a $6 million cap hit — $1 million less per season than Bobrovsky is making in Toronto with one year less of term.
The Maple Leafs hope the decision is for their benefit, even as Bobrovsky comes off the statistically worst season of his NHL career (.877 save percentage and 3.07 goals against average across 51 starts).
“When you look at him, I think it’s the body of work,” Chayka said. “I think it’s who he is, the person, it’s his habits, how he approaches the game, his body. Just an impressive guy overall. As we think about it, you know, if we’re going into a Game 7, we’re thinking about goalies and how important that position is. In a position like that, is there another goalie in the world that we’d want in net for us? And the answer would be no. We’d prefer to have Sergei Bobrovsky, and that was a big part of it.”
And even with the Panthers still on his heart, Bobrovsky now moves on to the Maple Leafs.
“It’s been an amazing seven for me,” Bobrovsky said. “I want to thank everybody — the whole organization and the Viola family. They welcomed me in the family. It’s been great. We won two Cups. It’s been amazing. The coaches, medical staff, everybody, obviously fans. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank them for all that time. We went through a lot. Obviously my teammates, I love those guys. They’ve been amazing to me, and the memories that we built together, they will stay in my heart forever.
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