What’s next for Sergei Bobrovsky?

Apr 15, 2026, 11:30 EDTUpdated: Apr 15, 2026, 11:04 EDT

Credit: Dec 23, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) comes off the ice after the warmups before the game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images

There are plenty of reasons why the Florida Panthers are one of the league’s best-run organizations. But one of the biggest is how they’ve locked in a two-time Stanley Cup-winning core for so long.

A quick look at Florida’s PuckPedia page shows how well they’ve locked up their core. Aleksander Barkov. Matthew Tkachuk. Sam Reinhart. Sam Bennett. Carter Verhaeghe. Brad Marchand. Anton Lundell. Seth Jones. Aaron Ekblad. Gustav Forsling. Niko Mikkola. A top-six lineup plus a third-line center, and a top-four defense corps, all locked up until at least 2030. Not every contract is a steal, and some may age poorly, but the Panthers have their best players locked up.

Now, all they have to do is find players to sign for cheap to fill out their depth.

But there’s one noticeable vacancy in this group. Florida has its top forwards and defensemen locked up, but its goaltending is not so much. That’s because Sergei Bobrovsky is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, after the conclusion of his seven-year contract with a $10 million cap hit. He’s an important piece of this Panthers mini-dynasty. But that wasn’t always the case, especially when his Panthers tenure got off to a rocky start.

In his first two seasons, he had a .902 save percentage and a -17.88 5-on-5 goals saved above expected, while winning a grand total of three playoff games, only two of which Bobrovsky won. His play improved during the 2021-22 Presidents’ Trophy-winning season with a .913 SV% and 8.46 5v5 GSAx, but it fell back down in 2022-23 when he lost the starting goalie gig to start the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Boston Bruins. It’s not that he was bad. But he was underperforming his contract, with some considering it one of the worst in the league.

But when Bobrovsky entered the third period of Game 3 of the 2023 first-round series, a completely different goaltender came out. He became a driving force for their run to the Cup Final that season. Since then, he’s returned to form as one of the game’s better goaltenders.

From the 2023 playoffs until they hoisted the Stanley Cup for a second time in 2025, Bobrovsky had a .909 SV% (sixth among goalies with 50+ games) and 17.36 5v5 GSAx (16th) in 112 regular season games, and a .911 SV% (third among goalies with 20+ games) and a 29.11 5v5 GSAx (1st) in 66 playoff games.

The Panthers were loaded with talented players who drove them to their two Stanley Cups and three final appearances. But Bobrovsky was as important as any of them during those runs.

“To the team and to younger guys like me, his preparation is just out of this world,” winger Mackie Samoskevich said. “It’s definitely something, as a younger guy coming into this league, you see and understand he’s the best for a reason. So for the team, we feel so comfortable with him back there. It seems like when it’s not going our way, he’s saving the day for us. Great personality too, always positive, great leader.”

“[Bobrovsky is an] amazing piece of the puzzle, and just a huge part of what the Florida Panthers have become here on and off the ice,” A.J. Greer said. “Amazing player, amazing person, and just someone who consistently wants to get better, wants to be the best. You see it in the gym, you see it on the ice. He never takes a day off. And it’s a huge part of why we won. He’s made key saves in the biggest moments possible.

“Whenever he’s stood on his head, and we hadn’t had our best game, it’s a huge part of why [the Panthers] won championships, why I got to be a Stanley Cup champion. So I’m very grateful for him.”

Few have had a bigger impact from having Bobrovsky around than Daniil Tarasov, whom the Panthers acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets last summer. Entering the season, he had a career .900 SV% and -4.81 5v5 GSAx in 65 games across four seasons. But in his first campaign in Florida, he’s seen improvement. His .893 SV% won’t show it, but his 4.05 5-on-5 GSAx shows he’s played good hockey behind an injury-riddled Panthers squad, which is tied for 18th in 5-on-5 xGA per 60 minutes.

And working alongside an experienced goaltender like Bobrovsky has played a role in Tarasov’s improvement.

“Bobby takes care of me,” Tarasov said. “From the first day when we met in the locker room after the offseason, he gave some advice about the team, how we’re gonna play, and [he] just took care of me, like a little brother.”

While he’s the only player not locked up long-term, Bobrovsky is a crucial member of the Panthers’ core. But at the same time, there’s a fine line they have to walk with keeping him around beyond this season. Of the 11 players locked up long-term, the average age is 29.73. That also drops down to 29 if you exclude the 37-year-old Marchand, with no one else older than 31. The Panthers may prioritize locking up their core players, but most of them are in their prime.

Do the Panthers focus on the players in their prime to maintain Stanley Cup contention? Or do they make an exception with a key veteran like Bobrovsky, as they did with Marchand?

Can the Panthers afford Bobrovsky? Florida is projected to have $13,812,500 in salary cap space with 11 forwards, six defensemen, and no goalies signed beyond this season. AFP Analytics projects Bobrovsky to sign a two-year contract with a cap hit of $5.4912 million. If it’s what he wants to sign for, the Panthers do it 100% of the time, as it still leaves them with $8.321 in cap space to add to their roster.

But what would Bobrovsky really ask for? His market value would likely be in the range of other elite goaltenders right now – around $7.5-9.5 million. It feels like a more likely price range for Bobrovsky if he signs a short-term deal. However, if he signs for a long-term deal like Marchand to bring down the AAV (probably with the intention he won’t play out the entire contract), the $5.5 million range feels more realistic.

We know it’s what the Panthers want, as Bill Zito said that after they didn’t move Bobrovsky at the trade deadline. And it makes sense. A quick glance at the free-agent pool shows there isn’t a replacement the Panthers can go after. Outside of Bobrovsky, the only goalies capable of playing a starting or tandem role are other veterans like Frederik Andersen, Petr Mrazek, Cam Talbot, and James Reimer, or younger, uncertain options like Eric Comrie, Connor Ingram, David Rittich, Stuart Skinner, and Vitek Vanecek.

If you want to explore the restricted free agent market instead, there is one intriguing option in Jet Greaves. But the Blue Jackets will likely match any offer sheet sent his way. Otherwise, the only intriguing RFA goalies are Samuel Ersson, Akira Schmid, and Arturs Silovs.

And the trade market? If they want a veteran option, perhaps a reunion with Samuel Montembeault or Anthony Stolarz could work. Maybe they take a shot at Jordan Binnington. Jesper Wallstedt is a dream option to pursue, given his age and ceiling. But he likely costs the Panthers a bit more, most likely at the center position.

Bobrovsky is the best option for the Panthers based on the current market. They’ll still want to find a replacement for him down the road if they don’t think it’s Tarasov. But it might be best for Florida to sign Bobrovsky for at least a couple of seasons and kick the can down the road.

But the bigger question might not be “will the Panthers want to re-sign Bobrovsky?” It’s probably, “Does Bobrovsky want to play next season?”

Up to this point, we don’t know. But it does feel like if Bobrovsky were to play next season, it’d be with the Panthers. He’s made over $100 million, so he doesn’t need money. He’s won two Stanley Cups, so he doesn’t need to sign with a contending team to win one (and let’s be honest, the Panthers have as good a shot as any team to win again next season).

But those same arguments could be flipped in favor of Bobrovsky calling it a career next season. By the time the 2026-27 regular season starts, Bobrovsky will be 38 years old. He’s made his money, he’s won two Cups, and he has two Vezina Trophies. Short of an Olympic gold medal, which he’d need to wait until 2030 to do (assuming that Russia is allowed to participate by then, or that a 41-year-old Bobrovsky makes the team ahead of Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin, Andrei Vasilevskiy, or Yaroslav Askarov), he has accomplished all he needed to in his career. On top of all that, he likely goes down as a Hall of Famer.

Bobrovsky has never indicated he’s retiring at the end of this season. But no one would blame him if he did. He has avoided major injuries for the past 10 years and may just want to end it while he’s still in good health. Bobrovsky deserves more than a quiet end to his career, especially after the Panthers failed to make the playoffs for the first time since he joined the team.

But only time will tell what Bobrovsky does next.

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