Panthers keep Sergei Bobrovsky at the deadline, pivot to contract

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Sergei Bobrovsky is still with the Florida Panthers, and the team wants to keep it that way.

The Panthers didn’t trade their two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender on Friday, despite widespread speculation that they would consider accepting offers for him. Instead, the team pivoted toward trying to get a new deal done with the free-agent-in-waiting.

There were offers. None compelled the Panthers to make a move.

“Sergei is a part of our franchise, part of our core,” Panthers general manager and hockey operations president Bill Zito said Friday, shortly after the league’s 3 p.m. trade deadline passed. “And we want to try to keep him. I think with almost any player … you always listen. When the phone rings, you answer because you don’t know what could happen.”

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Bobrovsky is enduring the worst statistical season of his 16-year career, with an .873 save percentage. Of the 35 goalies who entered Friday with more than 25 starts this season, Bobrovsky — at 37 — is the oldest of the bunch.

The Panthers don’t care about any of that. They’ve been ravaged by injuries this season and are well out of the playoff chase after three straight runs to the Stanley Cup Final. But virtually all of their top players — Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Aaron Ekblad, Brad Marchand, Gustav Forsling, Seth Jones, Anton Lundell, Niko Mikkola and more — are signed for years to come, and more playoff runs are expected.

Zito wants Bobrovsky to be along for that ride.

“I want Sergei to stay, and look forward to having him back,” Zito said.