Insider: Panthers To Trade Bobrovsky — Specific Western Team Linked

Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky

The Florida Panthers will not be going for a three-peat this season. That much is almost certain. Sitting a full eight points back of a Wild Card berth, and dead last in the Atlantic Division, it's quite possible that they use the upcoming trade deadline to perhaps recoup a few draft assets, and maybe peddle off a player or two.

In fact, according to insider Jeff Marek on Sunday, legendary goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, a pending unrestricted free agent, is likely to be one of those trade pieces that Panthers GM Bill Zito decides to move.

The hill is too high to climb (for the Panthers)... I really wonder about the goaltending situation. I really do wonder, if he's not coming back—and I have not heard anything about an extension for Sergei Bobrovsky—I would not be surprised if the Panthers moved Sergei Bobrovsky.
AND, if they do that, I would wonder about a team like the San Jose Sharks.

The Sharks are battling to get back into the playoffs this season for the first time in eight years. They'd love to take advantage of the dream season that superstar sophomore Macklin Celebrini is having.

Will the Sharks try to make a move for Bobrovsky at deadline?

Do they go out and try to bring in a multi-time Stanley Cup-winning veteran and future Hall of Famer like Bobrovsky to help mentor his young Russian countryman Yaroslav Askarov?

"Maybe a contract extension (in San Jose)?," continued Marek. "They have a lot of cap space to play with... That is a move that would make sense to me for both teams — IF Florida is not going to bring back Bobrovsky."

Bobrovsky does have a 16-team no-trade clause, so he'd have to agree, but as mentioned, he might like to team up with the 23-year-old Russian Askarov.

'Bob' is coming off a seven-year, $70 million deal, but it certainly would not cost that much to re-sign him for his ages 38-40 seasons. He's not having his best year, by any stretch of the imagination, with an .871 save percentage and 3.13 goals against average — both marks the worst of his 16-year career.

But joining a young, upstart team like the Sharks could get the juices flowing again for him. And he'd bring 117 games of playoff experience to the San Jose locker room.

"If we are going to play goalie on the move, San Jose would make sense to me for Bobrovsky," Marek concluded.