Sergei Bobrovsky is a Toronto Maple Leaf after signing a three-year, $21-million contract on the first day of free agency.
John Chayka has been busy so far on the first day of free angry. He traded Nick Robertson to Pittsburgh and signed Jack Roslovic for a two-year deal. But now he's added the goaltender that he was looking for as Sergei Bobrovsky is coming to the blue and white.
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Bobrovsky and Toronto have agreed upon a three-year deal worth $7-million AAV which is a pretty good deal all things considered and reports had Bobrovsky asking for over $8-million for five or six years, so it's a fairly cheap deal without a long-term commitment for a win-now team.
Bobrovsky, 37, had a 27-23-1 record with a 3.07 GAA and .877 SV% last season, but is a two-time Stanley Cup winner as well as a two-time Vezina Trophy winner. He will likely slot in as the workhorse of the team and give Anthony Stolarz more of a backup role given his injury history.
Toronto adds their best goaltender in over 20 years
Look, nothing against all the names who have come in like Anthony Stolarz, Joseph Woll, Ilya Samsonov, Matt Murray, Vesa Toskala....the list goes on, but no one is of the ilk of Bobrovsky and we haven't seen a goalie like this for a long time.
It harkens back to when Toronto brought in Ed Belfour to shore things up and he led the team brilliantly for three seasons - the same timespan that Bobrovsky is here for. Much like Belfour, he's also coming in at 37-years old and the parallels between the two are pretty scary.
Both have two Vezina's, are Cup winners, and while Belfour is in the Hall of Fame, Bobrovsky is going to be when he retires. Belfour holds a 484-320-125 record with a 2.50 GAA and .906 SV% while Bobrovsky has a 456-266-58 record with a 2.61 GAA and .912 SV%; they are quite similar in a lot of aspects.
It's a contract that also doesn't hurt as bad as we all thought it would
We also can't overlook that Bobrovsky only signed for three years at $7-million which for argument's sake is a really good deal. Yes he's older and it's a fair bit of money but he's also won two Cups in three years, is still an elite goalie who has shown no signs of regression. He struggled last year but so did the entire Panthers roster and it's not indicative to his ability.
It's also a contract that lines up with both the team's win-now mentality meanwhile Bobrovsky is the perfect mentor for a guy like Artur Akhtyamov once he's comfortable to make the leap to the NHL full-time.
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Toronto's been on a spending spree and have spent a total of $44.25-million on free agent contracts by bringing in Bobrovsky, Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger, and Jack Roslovic with other deals potentially in the works.
Is Sergei Bobrovksy's contract a steal for the Maple Leafs?
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