Sergei Bobrovsky’s move from Florida to Toronto has been one of the offseason’s loudest storylines, but Elliotte Friedman added a wrinkle that makes the whole thing feel a lot more personal. On the latest episode of the “32 Thoughts” podcast, Friedman said the three-year, $21 million deal Bobrovsky signed with the Maple Leafs matched his final ask from the Panthers - and Florida wasn’t willing to meet it.
“I heard that was his last ask of Florida, and Florida was not willing to go there,” Friedman said.
That changes the shape of the story. This wasn’t simply Toronto stepping in with a better offer for a goalie the Panthers were ready to lose.
According to Friedman, Bobrovsky had already come down from a higher starting point in an effort to stay put, but the Panthers still drew the line. The result: a two-time Stanley Cup champion and multiple Vezina winner walked.
Friedman thinks that kind of split could matter. “I think he’s a really motivated guy. I think he wants to prove there is a lot still there,” he said, while also noting the Leafs see the move as one that could go either “boom” or “bust.”
Florida has already turned the page in net. The Panthers revamped their crease by bringing in Jacob Markstrom from New Jersey and Akira Schmid from the Vegas Golden Knights, though it remains to be seen whether either one gives them the goaltending they need.
For Bobrovsky, though, the motivation angle is impossible to miss. He’s heading to Toronto with a point to make, and he’ll get plenty of chances to make it against the team that told him no.
When the Leafs and Panthers meet next season, Bobrovsky won’t just be staring down a divisional opponent. He’ll be facing the organization that decided it had seen enough.
That kind of rejection tends to stick. Especially when it comes from the team he helped win back-to-back championships.
Toronto’s offseason has been busy well beyond the crease. The organization brought in John Chayka as general manager, added franchise icon Mats Sundin as a senior advisor in hockey operations, and installed Jim Hiller as head coach with Daniel Alfredsson as an assistant.
On the roster, the Leafs paired the Bobrovsky addition with a move out of Joseph Woll. They also acquired and signed Darren Raddysh for the blue line and added highly touted forward Gavin McKenna through the draft.
Florida’s big summer swing also mattered here. The trade to land Brady Tkachuk was part of the backdrop that helped shape the Panthers’ approach, including their decision not to go higher for Bobrovsky.
In Other News...
Inside The Panthers Plan To Protect Their Core During A Bold Gamble
Offer sheets sound simple on paper: identify a target, set the money, and wait to see whether another club blinks. But former Panthers assistant general manager Steve Werier said the real work goes well beyond the contract itself, because any team willing to go down that road has to think about how it protects its own roster at the same time. He pointed to the Panthers own history as a reminder that the strategy is never just about the player you are chasing, but also about the players you have to keep safe.
Werier referenced Floridas 2016 thinking around Tampa Bay winger Nikita Kucherov and said the broader lesson is that once a club gets a reputation for offer-sheet aggression, it can invite the same kind of pressure back. He also pointed to Carolina as an example of a team that has stayed active on that front while making sure its own young core is not left exposed, which is the sort of due diligence that happens long before an offer sheet is ever signed. [Read more 🡒]
Brady Tkachuk Is Headed For One Brutal Panthers Road Game
Brady Tkachuks move to Florida has already changed the balance of the Panthers lineup, but it also set up one of the most awkward road nights on next seasons calendar. The former Senators captain asked out in June, then landed with the Panthers to skate alongside his brother Matthew, and the return trip to Ottawa is shaping up as a test of how much patience a fan base can have for a star who forced his way elsewhere.
For Florida, it is just another reminder that the Tkachuk name carries plenty of baggage wherever it goes. The Panthers will benefit from the edge and energy Brady brings, but when the schedule sends him back to the place where his career started, the reception is expected to be anything but warm, and that kind of atmosphere can turn a routine road game into a storyline all its own. [Read more 🡒]