RUMOR | Sergei Bobrovsky wants to play until he’s 44 (and that’s too long for the Panthers)

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
RUMOR | Sergei Bobrovsky wants to play until he’s 44 (and that’s too long for the Panthers)
Credit: Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images

The Panthers want to keep Sergei Bobrovsky. A.J. Greer does, too, by the way.

Will Bill Zito be able to work his magic and keep the players he wants? After all, last year he managed to do just that with Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett, and Brad Marchand at the last minute.

It was seen as a stroke of genius.

One thing that particularly helped the Panthers' GM was giving Marchand a very long-term contract to reduce the veteran's salary cap impact ($5.25 million).

The former Bruin had agreed to a six-year contract. The player, who just turned 38 (last May), will therefore be 43 on July 1, 2031—the date his contract expires.

And apparently, this has inspired Sergei Bobrovsky.

According to Nick Kypreos (Sportsnet), the Panthers goaltender is seeking a six- or seven-year, $42 million deal—that's $6 million or $7 million per season. He is currently 37 years old and will turn 38 in September, before the start of next season.

That means the goaltender would like to be under contract through his 43rd or 44th season. For a goaltender, that's pretty crazy—let's just be clear about that. He wouldn't necessarily be playing for all those years…

The Panthers, who want to keep the Russian in town, aren't willing to go that far. And we understand why.

If Bob doesn't come back down to earth, the Panthers will explore their options. And among them is Connor Hellebuyck, who could be on his way out of Winnipeg.

Both Kypreos and Pierre LeBrun (@TheAthletic) have speculated on the possibility of one of the league's best goalies (in the regular season, at least) landing in Sunrise via trade.

It's unclear whether the American, who played well at the Olympics, has officially asked the Jets to trade him. But in any case, it seems increasingly likely that he'll be leaving Manitoba.

And if he were to leave, the Panthers—along with the Red Wings and the Sabres—would be teams to watch.


In a nutshell

– ECHL scoop.

– The Red Wings aren't in a hurry to trade their captain.

– Martin St-Louis is 51 years old.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!