George Richards, FHN Publisher
When goalie Sergei Bobrovsky signed the largest contract in Florida Panthers history, it was assumed he would be their opening night starter for years to come.
Yet when the Panthers open their season Sunday against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, Bobrovsky will not be in their net.
And no one knows when he will be.
Bobrovsky has been missing from Florida’s training camp since it opened on Jan. 4, the team not commenting on the reason other than saying he is one of a handful of players who are ‘unfit to play.’
Under the NHL’s guidelines for reporting injuries during training camp while operating in a pandemic, teams are not allowed to disclose what, exactly, is keeping a player out of practice.
So, it could be an exposure to COVID-19, a positive test — or a hamstring injury.
We just do not know (although it is probably not a hamstring injury. Bobrovsky would have been around the team if it was. And he hasn’t been. So there is that.)
What we do know is Wednesday was the ninth consecutive day Bobrovsky was not on the ice since the Panthers began practice.
Florida has also been missing defenseman Markus Nutivaara and center Juho Lammikko since camp opened.
It is Bobrovsky’s absence, however, which affects the Panthers most.
On Tuesday, coach Joel Quenneville acknowledged Florida will start Chris Dreidger or Sam Montembeault on Sunday but did not divulge which one would get the call.
“I think we have a pretty good idea of who is going but we will wait and see how it all plays out,” Quenneville said after Tuesday’s scrimmage in which each goalie gave up two goals.
“Hopefully (Bobrovsky is not out) long, we’ll see how many games that is. But, back-to-backs are the things we will look at (when it comes to what goalie plays), the opponents … hopefully we’re not going too far into the season where we have to make this decision.”
With Bobrovsky and his $10 million contract on the shelf, Florida will turn to two goalies — three, actually — making a fraction of that amount as the season begins.
Either Driedger ($850,000 per season) or Montembeault ($700,000) will start Sunday with Philippe Desrosiers, thought to be Florida’s starter in the AHL had Charlotte had a season, sticking on the roster as the emergency No. 3.
Montembeault has had the better camp, but with no exhibition games, Quenneville will huddle with goalie coach Robb Tallas — as well as ‘Goaltending Excellence Department’ members Roberto Luongo, Francois Allaire and Leo Luongo who have been at every practice — to decide on who gets the call Sunday.
If the Panthers are basing things off last season, it will be Driedger in net. He was the starter at the end of the year when Bobrovsky was out with (seriously) a hamstring injury.
Quenneville will probably not make a public announcement on who will start Sunday.
Last year, Montembeault won the backup job over Driedger in camp only to have a rough go of it in November which opened the door for Driedger to come up, get a shutout in his first NHL start and (save for injury) keep the backup job for the rest of the season.
Both Driedger and Montembeault have received the lion’s share of practice time, allowing them the opportunity to be as sharp as they can be come Sunday.
“I have felt really good, I think camp has gone really well so far,” Montembeault said earlier this week after giving up one goal in the first scrimmage of camp.
“It was good to get back with some game-like action, I didn’t see any in the (summer) bubble. … It is going to be a different year, especially with the crowded schedule. We have a lot more back-to-back games, there’s COVID, there’s injuries.
“You never know what is going to happen. I want to be good in practice, get good habits and be ready to play.”
For both Montembeault and Driedger, this is the first training camp either is coming in gunning for a starting job — at least in the NHL.
Last year, there was no question who Florida’s starter would be with the battle for the backup position.
Right now, one of the two will be Florida’s new starter.
At least until Bobrovsky returns, gets into game shape and takes over.
Of course, no one knows when that will be.
It all depends when Bobrovsky gets back on the ice — and how his body reacts to the work upon his return.
For now, the Panthers will ride Driedger and/or Montembeault. Probably both.
“These next couple of days are going to be huge for us,” Driedger said. “We are going to be able to just dial in, tweak some things from last year. … We’re going to get the ball rolling.”