Sergei Bobrovsky is set to be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2026, and teams across the league are calling the Panthers to see what trade package he could possibly go far
It’s trade season, and with less than a couple of days until the March 6th 3pm deadline, teams have been placed in the categories of buyers and sellers.
For the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Panthers, an injury plagued season has made it a high task to make it back to the postseason in 2026.
According to money puck, the Florida Panthers have a 2.6% chance of making the postseason.
One silver lining in a season that has gone south is that their first round pick that was sent to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Seth Jones trade is top-10 protected.
Per tankathon, after Florida’s 5-1 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, they stood at ninth in the NHL lottery odds, based on points percentage.
Based on being 10 points out of the final wild card spot, and the Boston Bruins having a game in hand, it’s more likely than not that Florida will end up selling some of their pending free agents.
Florida has 18 players on their current roster who are signed through the 2026-27 season, so there are not a lot of pieces to trade off. However, there is one player in question where the entire hockey world wants to know about, their two-time Stanley Cup winning goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky.
Bobrovsky is in the final year of his 7-year, $70 million deal that he signed back in July of 2019, and is set to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st of this offseason.
At 37 years old, there are questions on whether the Panthers should keep him and have him sign a team-friendly deal while they search for his successor, or explore the trade market and obtain some assets.
It has not been the best season for Bobrovsky, where he currently has a 22-19-1 record, 3.13 goals-against average and a .873 save percentage, his worst season as a Cat.
A source has told the Locked On Panthers Podcast that three teams have been calling the Panthers to see what it will take to swing a trade before Friday mid-afternoon.
The teams that we were told go as follows (in no specific order): Montreal Canadiens, Carolina Hurricanes, and the San Jose Sharks
Montreal and Carolina are currently in playoff spots, while San Jose is three points back of the final spot in the western conference with a game in hand on the Seattle Kraken, so getting a goaltender with long playoff experience could be a major boost to each team.
Let’s go over each team and where they stand with their roster and their salary cap situation.
Montreal Canadiens:
A young team who got some playoff experience in 2024-25 before losing to the Washington Capitals in round one.
They have carried over their good fortune into this year, but it’s been up-and-down between the pipes.
Although the Habs could score goals with the best of them in the NHL with the likes of forwards Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki and defenseman Lane Hutson, they’ve had trouble all year keeping pucks out of their net.
Montreal is ninth worst in goals against per game at 3.27, and an upgrade in goaltending could help their chances of advancing further than one round.
A trade to Montreal would likely require 50% retention from Florida, but more work would need to be done in order for Montreal to fit Bobrovsky in.
There is a chance that forward Patrik Laine could be a piece that could be dealt at the deadline, but doubtful that it would be to the Panthers.
Laine has not played since mid-October, but has practiced and is closer to a return. He is also set to become a free agent this summer as well.
Montreal as of Wednesday night has $1.4 million in cap space, and retaining 50% of Laine’s $8.7M salary in a trade would exceed the necessary space in order to bring in Bobrovsky at 50%..
Both of Montreal’s goaltenders Samuel Montembault and Jakub Dobes are signed through next season, so either a reunion in Florida for Montembault could be on the table or Dobes could compete for starts for the rest of this season and next if the Panthers decide to bring him in as part of a possible deal.
Carolina Hurricanes:
Carolina’s front office has been intentional about having cap flexibility in order to have space for the present and future. To think that at certain points, they’ve had star forwards like Jake Guentzel and Mikko Rantanen in the mix, but still found a way to swing them in trades in order to gain assets themselves. Getting superstars to stay has been a major issue in Raleigh.
General manager Eric Tulsky was able to bring in probably the biggest free agent of the 2025 class in Nicolaj Ehlers to a six-year deal worth $8.5 million per year, and they still have room to make more moves with $14 million in cap space this offseason and 19 players under contract.
Their 2025 deadline cap space is projected to be $40 million, per puck pedia, and one of their goaltenders in Frederik Andersen is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. With Pyotr Kotchetkov out for the season, and injury scares for Andersen in the past, Tulsky could be looking for another piece to add to their goalie tandem.
Brandon Bussi, 27 year old goaltender who the Hurricanes claimed off of waivers from the Panthers, has been one of the greater stories in the league.
Bussi has won 25 of his first 28 starts to begin his NHL career going into Wednesday evening.
However, he is inexperienced when it comes to playoff hockey, so the Hurricanes kicking the tires on a goaltender who has been on multiple long playoff runs does not come as a surprise.
There is also familiarity as both have shared the same locker room (despite it being short lived), back in the preseason in 2025-26, so the possibility is there for Bobrovsky to not head too far from South Florida at the deadline.
San Jose Sharks:
The Sharks are looking to accelerate their rebuild as Macklin Celebrini is in the running for the Hart Trophy, factoring on a majority of the Sharks goals while providing excellent two-way play.
Over the years San Jose has been adding on contracts in order to get to the salary cap floor, taking on the contract of defenseman Nick Leddy, claiming him off of waivers from the St. Louis Blues, and obtaining the contract of Canadiens great, goaltender Carey Price, who has not played a game since the 2021-22 season and is on season-ending long-term injured reserve.
San Jose also has retention slots taken from trades of defenseman Erik Karlsson, forward Tomas Hertl, along with loads of bonuses and contract buyouts.
The best thing about that? San Jose still has not gone over the cap ceiling.
What does this mean? They could actually afford to take on the entirety of the Bobrovsky contract if they decided to trade the contract of Carey Price back to Florida.
Captain Logan Couture will not play hockey again, due to persistent hip and groin injuries but is not even listed on long-term injured reserve, let alone season-ending. There are cap gymnastics that general manager Mike Greir could pull off with a Bobrovsky trade
That would likely cost San Jose less in a return than the two other teams mentioned, because Florida could retain nothing.
Highly unlikely that Florida retains zero, but something to consider.
If that scenario plays out, it would mean that San Jose could obtain a championship level goaltender, while the Panthers are in greater cap health for the remainder of the season, and do not risk the possibility of being short a roster player for a Seth Jones return, or even the unlikely return of captain Aleksander Barkov.
Another upside on the San Jose front is that Bobrovsky could mentor fellow countrymen Yaroslov Askarov for a possible playoff push, as the Sharks are looking to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
No matter what, the decision will be tough for Zito and the Panthers front office. Chances are, number 72 will never be worn again and will eventually go up in the rafters at Amerant Bank Arena.
Will the move be made? Will he stay or will he go? Because there is also word from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period that there is also a chance that Bobrovsky signs a two-year deal once the season is over at a lower cap charge to help the team continue to contend going into next season and beyond, but it has to make sense for both parties.
Fans from across the league will be on the edge of their seats prior to Friday because only three times has a starting goaltender of a Cup winner been traded the very next season after winning it: Lorne Chabot (1928), Terry Sawchuk (1955), and Mike Vernon (1997).
Will Bobrovsky be the fourth? Stay tuned.