The Carolina Hurricanes were reported to be among the teams that explored getting the Florida Panthers goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky, at the 2026 NHL trade deadline. 

According to a report by an NHL insider, Pierre LeBrun, Carolina attempted to get Bobrovsky during the deadline period, only for talks over the asking price.

The Panthers reportedly asked for a first-round draft pick in return. But Carolina refused to meet that price, and Bobrovsky continued to remain in Florida.

LeBrun had also said that there were two teams running to pursue Bobrovsky. And with Carolina being one of them, Florida was ready to listen to offers on its pending unrestricted free agents.

It was made clear that a deal for Bobrovsky would have required matching the $10 million cap hit, with Carolina carrying limited salary cap space ahead of the deadline.

At the end, the Panthers did not move their goaltender. Florida general manager Bill Zito confirmed after the deadline that the team had received offers, but none were enough to actually act on.

Bobrovsky's Record With the Florida Panthers

Bobrovsky joined the Florida Panthers in 2019 on a seven-year, $70 million contract. This was after his earlier stints with the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets. 

In his 16-season NHL career, he holds a record of 456 wins, 266 losses, and 58 overtime losses in 806 games, earning two Vezina Trophies and two Stanley Cup championships. 

His time in Florida has been holding up strong, especially due to his postseason performance. He helped his team across four games against the Hurricanes in the 2022-23 Eastern Conference Final. And that was the same year Florida reached the Stanley Cup Final for the first time.

The Panthers ended up losing to the Vegas Golden Knights that year, but Bobrovsky's performance really stood out from everything.

Florida went on to pick up further in the next two postseasons. In the 2025 playoffs, the Panthers ended up as the Stanley Cup champions over the Edmonton Oilers. 

The 2025-26 regular season was a different story and on the poorer side of his career. Florida missed the playoffs entirely. The Panthers were eliminated from contention before the trade deadline even came up.

His contract has now expired. Whether Bobrovsky comes back to Florida or moves on as an unrestricted free agent this summer would be the bigger storyline this offseason.

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Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Ankita Yadav