George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers season wrapped up more than a month ago, but report cards for the 2021 campaign are now being mailed home.
Today, we look at Florida’s goalies and how they graded out.
In the 56-game compressed schedule, it is mildly surprising that Florida only used three goalies during the 2021 season.
While Philippe Desrosiers spent the entire season on the taxi squad and Sam Montembeault did come up toward the end, only Sergei Bobrovsky, Chris Driedger and Spencer Knight played. Desrosiers and Montembeault did dress as backups, however.
Two of those starting goalies will be back.
Florida Hockey Now can confirm that Driedger will be signing with the expansion Seattle Kraken for the coming season.
It is not known whether Driedger will officially sign with Seattle before Wednesday’s expansion draft, but he is signing with Seattle.
How the Panthers work the goalie situation moving forward will definitely be something worth looking out for.
Does Bobrovsky get back to the form that got him a seven-year, $70 million contract from the Panthers in 2019 and get 65-plus games?
Or does Knight, who will still be a rookie next season, wrest more than a few games and perhaps even become the starter?
Perhaps Montembeault rises up in training camp and take the backup job sending Knight to the AHL Charlotte Checkers to get the lion’s share of games there.
This is a story for another day although with training camp kicking off in about two months, it is a day that is rapidly approaching.
Regardless, the Panthers know they won’t have Driedger to fall back on this year.
GRADING THE PANTHERS’ GOALIES
All stats courtesy of hockey-reference.com
- Sergei Bobrovsky (31 games; 19-8-2; 2.91 GAA; .906 save %; 0 shutouts; .533 quality save %; -1.9 goals-saved above average)
It was not the best of seasons for Bobrovsky, but it certainly was a better one than he had in his Florida debut in 2019-20.
Bobrovsky ended up sharing time with Driedger who, due to the compressed schedule, was pressed into service more than a traditional backup usually would.
As the season went along, it was obvious Florida coach Joel Quenneville was running more of a 1A-1B operation in net.
In the end, Bobrovsky got 54 percent of Florida’s starts throughout the season and picked up 56 percent of the team’s total wins.
Not exactly what you’re hoping for from your highest paid player, but this was a strange season.
Bobrovsky had his moments and improved his play from the season before. Although he only started two of the six playoff games and was completely scratched for the final two, it is expected he will come into training camp as Florida’s starter.
Based on the past two seasons, however, no one would be surprised if he were to be replaced.
But, the net is his once again. How long he holds onto it, at least for the immediate future, is up to him.
Final grade: C.
- Chris Driedger (23 games; 14-6-3; 2.07 GAA; .927 save %; 3 shutouts; .652 quality save %; +12 goals-saved above average)
For the second consecutive season, Driedger came in and helped bail out the Panthers in net when called upon.
It ended up earning him a nice payday — and a three-year contract — from the Seattle Kraken where he should compete for the starting job on Day 1.
Driedger showed that his 2019-20 performance was not a fluke as he gave the Panthers strong showings throughout the season and at times, looked like Florida’s starter.
The Panthers were splitting things up, however, but when Bobrovsky looked shaky in Game 1 against the Lightning, Quenneville wasted no time in naming Driedger the starter for Game 2. That had nothing to do with a compressed schedule.
Although Driedger’s showing in the playoffs weren’t what he had hoped them to be (Bobrovsky replaced him in Game 3 and then got the start for Game 4) his regular season work was more than solid.
Simply looking at the stats over the past two years and Driedger had some of the best in the entire league.
As much as he and the Panthers would have liked to continue their professional relationship, this is a business and it’s time for Driedger to move on.
Final grade: A.
- Spencer Knight (4 games; 4-0-0; 2.32 GAA; .919 save %; 0 shutouts; .333 quality save %.
The Panthers only planned on giving Knight one start after he signed with the team in March upon leaving Boston College following his sophomore season.
The Panthers — coaches, teammates, fans — were all impressed by the way the 20-year-old handled himself in net as he became the youngest goalie in NHL history to start his career with four consecutive wins.
He got his unofficial fifth straight win as he got the start for a desperate Florida team in Game 5 of the playoffs.
Knight was obviously crushed after losing Game 6 in Tampa but the experience he got in his final weeks with the Panthers may prove to be invaluable.
The question now is: Could Knight not only be the Panthers’ goalie-of-the-future but the goalie-of-right-now?
The smart money is on Bobrovsky starting the season in net but Knight obviously has an opportunity here. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Final grade: A-plus.