- Bobrovsky agreed to Florida’s final offer of $6M per season over two years
- Bill Zito would only put a partial no-trade clause in the deal
- Read below for what John Chayka told Bobrovsky’s camp to close it
Sergei Bobrovsky didn’t leave Florida over money.
The 37-year-old goalie agreed to the Panthers’ final offer of $6 million per season across two years, according to Daria Tuboltseva of RG. A no-trade clause is what sank it.
Bobrovsky wanted full trade protection. Panthers general manager Bill Zito wouldn’t write that in and countered with partial protection instead.
Neither side budged, and the talks died there.
Toronto had no such hesitation. A source described to RG how quickly Leafs GM John Chayka moved once Bobrovsky’s terms reached him:
“Toronto’s John Chayka immediately agreed to Sergei’s terms. He said: ‘We can offer a $7 million salary. That’s all the free cap space we have.’”
That gap is what our own timeline zeroed in on Thursday afternoon. The Leafs beat Florida on salary, gave him an extra year, and handed over the clause Zito wouldn’t touch.
Florida opened at one year and $4 million, per RG, then climbed to two years at $6 million, matching the cap hit Jacob Markstrom carries. Bobrovsky wound up with three years and $21 million in Toronto.
A competing version of the breakup is already out there. Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts in July that Bobrovsky’s last ask of Florida was the same contract he signed with the Leafs, and the Panthers wouldn’t go there. Tuboltseva’s source puts him at Florida’s number with the clause as the only gap.
He spent the summer in Russia and flew back to North America in early August. His wife Olga and their two children are moving from Miami to Toronto, the first Canadian stop of a career that started in Philadelphia in 2010.
Watch what he said the day he signed:
The Panthers rebuilt their crease without him, trading for Markstrom out of New Jersey and adding Akira Schmid from Vegas. Zito now runs that tandem instead of a two-time Vezina winner who was willing to sign for $6 million.
