Florida Panthers' New Goalie Tandem Of Markstrom And Schmid Is A Downgrade From The Bobrovsky Years
The Florida Panthers completely changed their goalie tandem for next season.
Florida acquired netminder Jacob Markstrom and left winger Angus Crookshank from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for winger Evan Rodrigues, center Jesper Boqvist and left winger Ben Steeves.
The trade – along with the Panthers' acquisition of backup goalie Akira Schmid from the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday – almost certainly spells the end of the line in Florida for longtime starter Sergei Bobrovsky. The two-time Stanley Cup champion is set to be a UFA come Wednesday when free agency opens.
Although the Panthers have upgraded elsewhere on the roster so far this off-season, they're downgrading in net in terms of playoff experience and potentially in quality of play, which could hurt their chances of winning the Stanley Cup for the third time in four seasons.
REPORT: Devils Trade Goaltender Jacob Markstrom to Panthers in Multi-Player Deal
The New Jersey Devils traded veteran goaltender Jacob Markstrom and Utica Comets forward Angus Crookshank to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday afternoon in exchange for forward Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist, and Ben Steeves, per TSN's Pierre LeBrun.
The lack of a contract extension for Bobrovsky means that either his price tag or the term he's looking for was not something the Panthers were willing to provide. So moving off Bobrovsky may be positive in some regard for Florida, but there's a significant risk in moving forward with two goalies who haven't won anything of significance at the NHL level.
Bobrovsky didn't always have excellent regular seasons for Florida, but he frequently figured things out by the playoffs and stopped more than expected, given the quality of the scoring chances he faced. He may not have won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, but he gave the Panthers a much better chance of winning the Stanley Cup year in and year out.
That's why, on paper, the Panthers' Cup chances are slightly worse with Markstrom as the new starter. He has not shown enough to give the Panthers full expectations that he will stop everything he needs to in the important moments and more.
That said, the Panthers upgraded in other areas – namely, grit and skill on offense – by acquiring Brady Tkachuk. Injuries to Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and other important players were the chief reason Florida missed the playoffs this past season as well.
So, even with mere average goaltending, the Panthers have enough depth and skill to bounce back. But time will tell whether Markstrom and Schmid can get Florida into the Stanley Cup final next season.
The Panthers will try to tap into Markstrom's desire to win a Cup, but Florida GM Bill Zito is taking a massive chance that not one, but two new goalies will do the trick for the Panthers in the highly competitive Atlantic Division.
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This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 1:48 PM.