Sergei Bobrovsky will live forever in Florida Panthers lore, helping the franchise capture back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in each of the last two seasons. But with the team a full 10 points back of the final wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference in 2025-26, and the Russian netminder set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, it's not impossible that he gets traded before the March 6 deadline.
After exiting the Olympic break 1-3-0, The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun reported on Wednesday that “the Panthers are in sell mode, listening on their pending unrestricted free agents, which include AJ Greer, Tomas Nosek, Jeff Petry, Daniil Tarasov and the big guy, Sergei Bobrovsky.”
LeBrun makes a case for various teams to inquire about the 37-year-old, including the Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres. But the two frontrunners, in his mind, are the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes.
“The Vegas Golden Knights could make sense. All of their goalies are outside the top 30 in the league in save percentage and goals saved above expected,” LeBrun wrote in his latest NHL rumblings.
“The Carolina Hurricanes need to at least pick up the phone and inquire. Brandon Bussi has been an awesome story, but shouldn’t the Canes do all they can to make sure of their goaltending if this is finally their year? According to league sources, the Canes checked in regarding the St. Louis Blues’ Jordan Binnington earlier this week, though it doesn’t seem to have gone anywhere.
“All things being equal, Vegas and Carolina make the most sense if Bobrovsky moves.”
Panthers are running out of gas down the stretch
The Panthers are looking like a team that hasn't had a full offseason in four years. And that's been exactly the case, with Florida marching to back-to-back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals since 2023, and winning two of them.
They've dealt with devastating injuries in 2025-26, most notably to captain Sasha Barkov, who hasn't played a single game this year after undergoing ACL and MCL surgery in his right knee on Sept. 26. Matthew Tkachuk missed the entire first half of the season, while Brad Marchand, Seth Jones, Dmitry Kulikov and other fulltime roster players have all missed significant time.
It's going to take a miracle for this squad to get back into the race in a crowded Eastern Conference, and the way they've played after the Olympics isn't at all encouraging. The Panthers just lost 5-1 to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, and they continue to slip further and further away with only 21 games left.
Although Bobrovsky is having the worst season of his NHL career, managing an underwhelming .873 save percentage, we all know what happens when ‘Playoff Bob' is on the case.
Still, considering the amount of hockey Florida has played over the last three years, and the injuries they've dealt with, it's not overly surprising to see them this far outside of playoff contention at the beginning of March.
All that being said, general manager Bill Zito will likely be selling a couple of pending UFAs between now and Friday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline. It'll be intriguing to see if one of the faces of the franchise ends up being a casualty.
