Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers have started the season with a dud. The Cats are 1-2-3 in their first six games, with a lot of the blame going to the goaltenders.
Their future Hall of Fame goalie, Roberto Luongo, is on the IR and has just started skating again. He will likely miss another week for the Panthers as they hemorrhage goals, and points, behind James Reimer.
Luongo is going to return but the Panthers can’t bank on him for too much longer. He hasn’t started more than 40 games in the last two seasons and at age 39, he won’t be shouldering the load in net for much longer.
Beyond Luongo the Panthers have the aforementioned Reimer and Michael Hutchinson on the roster. Hutchinson is singed through the end of the season and isn’t a factor in the Florida goaltending situation.
What makes the Panthers even more intriguing is that Artemi Panarin has been rumored to have Florida on the list of places he is looking to play in. Could you imagine the blockbuster deal that would be Panarin and Bobrovksy to Florida? The Jackets could get a huge return for the set of Russians.
This though is a bit out there though. Florida certainly has a goaltending issue that Bobrovsky could help fix, but Luongo’s contract and the Panthers cap situation make this a tough trade to pull off.