The Florida Panthers traded for their second goaltender in as many days, acquiring Jacob Markstrom in a deal with the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday that all but certainly signals the end of Sergei Bobrovsky’s storied run in South Florida.
The Panthers sent Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist and the rights to pending restricted free agnet Ben Steeves to the Devils for Markstrom and winger Angus Crookshank. Florida got goalie Akira Schmid from Vegas on Monday night for a 2028 third-round pick.
“Jacob is an established veteran leader in this league who possesses size and a relentless drive to win,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. “We are excited for him to compete alongside our established group and return to South Florida.”
Bobrovsky, 37, backstopped Florida to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2024 and ’25 and another trip to the final in ’23.
Markstrom, 36, is beginning a two-year contract at an annual salary cap hit of $6 million. That was signed by former Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald, who left the organization in April.
Moving on from him is the first big roster shakeup for successor Sunny Mehta. New Jersey now has Jake Allen in net and will likely go shopping for his tandem mate in free agency.
Rodrigues, who turns 33 on July 28, gives the Devils another top-nine forward. The Panthers shed his salary of just over $3 million after getting Brady Tkachuk from Ottawa to play with brother Matthew.
In other moves around the NHL, the St. Louis Blues put winger Jonathan Drouin on unconditional waivers to buy out the final season of his contract. They got Drouin at the trade deadline from the New York Islanders as part of the return for Brayden Schenn.
