Former Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky stays in Atlantic Division, signs with Maple Leafs

The Florida Panthers will see a lot of their former goalie, the one who led them to three consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances and two championship banners in 2024 and 2025, as Sergei Bobrovsky signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs for three years.

Thanks to two titles and two Vezina Trophies, Bobrovsky was the most coveted netminder on the market this summer and priced himself out of the Panthers organization. Interestingly, a day after Florida acquired Jacob Markström, who re-joined the team that drafted him in the second round in 2008, the Panthers moved on from a 37-year-old to a 36-year-old, who will make just $1 million less annually.

Last year, behind a depleted lineup, Bobrovsky produced one of the worst statistical campaigns of his career, going 27-23-1 with a 3.07 GAA and .877 SV%.

At the start of his career, Bobrovsky debuted with the Philadelphia Flyers, who were then in the Atlantic Division, before spending time in the Western Conference with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who were in the Central Division.

However, when the NHL restructured its divisions after the 2012-13 Lockout, Bobrovsky came back to the East and spent time in the Metropolitan Division when the Blue Jackets were realigned.

For the past seven years, the future Hall of Famer has been leading the Panthers in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division.

Here’s a look at Bobrovsky’s numbers against the teams in the Atlantic Division since the 2019-20 season:

• Toronto Maple Leafs: 17GP / 7-6-1 / .886 SV% / 3.42 GAA
• Tampa Bay Lightning: 24GP / 10-10-2 / .896 SV% / 2.93 GAA
• Ottawa Senators: 14GP / 10-4-0 / .917 SV% / 2.08 GAA
• Montreal Canadiens: 11GP / 6-4-0 / .863 SV% / 3.36 GAA
• Detroit Red Wings: 20GP / 16-3-1 / .935 SV% / 1.64 GAA
• Buffalo Sabres: 12GP / 6-4-1 / .885 SV% / 2.94 GAA
• Boston Bruins: 16GP / 6-6-3 / .891 SV% / 3.33 GAA

Outside of outstanding performances against the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto’s Provincial Rival, the Ottawa Senators, Bobrovsky has been average with sub-.900 SV% totals against the remaining five teams. However, it can’t go without saying that he’s 13-1-2 against the Panthers in his career, with a personal-best .940 SV%.

By the time Bobrovsky retires and comes back to Florida to see his number retired by the Panthers, he’ll have spent a decade in the Atlantic Division, where he’s had great success against some opponents and been average against others.

Whenever the Maple Leafs visit Amerant Bank Arena this upcoming season, fans will pack the house to pay tribute to one of the best goalies in franchise history. Meanwhile, they will hope his recent success against the Panthers begins to turn around, and that he starts to put up numbers against his old teammates like they were the Winnipeg Jets, who have a 6-12-2 record against Bobrovsky in his career.

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