Sergei Bobrovsky's new deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs carries a cap hit of $10,000,000, and it's raising fresh questions about Florida.
This Tuesday, Elliotte Friedman dropped a detail on 32 Thoughts that's making the rounds fast among fans of both teams.
Friedman said the term Bobrovsky landed in Toronto was the same one he'd last brought to the Panthers before signing elsewhere.
So Florida had a chance to keep him. They passed.
Elliotte Friedman: Sergei Bobrovsky, this 3x$7 that the Leafs signed him for, I heard that was his last ask of Florida.
Bobrovsky is 37 years old. Last season he posted a .876 save percentage across 52 games, numbers that clearly gave Florida some pause.
Age curves for goaltenders aren't kind, and Florida's front office apparently decided the risk wasn't worth matching.
Toronto didn't blink. They committed anyway, and now carry a goaltender who just posted his worst save percentage in years at a $10,000,000 cap hit.
Panthers already moved on in net
Florida isn't sitting around waiting on nostalgia. Jacob Markstrom is their guy now, carrying a $6,000,000 cap hit after a .883 save percentage season.
Behind him sits Akira Schmid, who posted a .893 save percentage on a modest $875,000 deal.
That's a cheaper, arguably steadier tandem than what Bobrovsky is now bringing to Toronto. Bill Zito didn't blink either.
Is this a bad bet by Toronto? Bobrovsky's track record speaks for itself, but track records don't stop the clock on a goaltender's decline.
Jim Hiller takes over as Toronto's head coach, hired back on June 17, and he inherits a goaltending situation that's now under a microscope.
The Maple Leafs stumbled to a 32-36-14 finish last season, good for just 78 points, and closed the year on a seven-game losing streak.
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A new deal for their goaltender does not fix a roster that finished 28th overall. Whether it stabilizes the crease is a different question entirely, and Toronto is about to find out the hard way.
Did the Panthers make a mistake letting Sergei Bobrovsky walk to Toronto?
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