Sergei Bobrovsky gets another run in the Maple Leafs crease tonight against Ottawa, and the Leafs are betting last season was a blip.
Because the numbers were ugly. Bobrovsky finished 2025-26 in Florida with an .877 save percentage, the lowest mark of any season over his NHL career.
A 3.07 GAA across 58 games came with it. Tough sell for a franchise desperate to rekindle its Cup dreams.
The Maple Leafs brought him in anyway. His $7,000,000 cap hit runs through 2028-29, and he spent his 38th birthday on Sunday unpacking boxes.
Jim Hiller doesn't sound worried. "Beyond playing as well as he has and having the career he's had, he's a champion," the new head coach said Tuesday.
The trophy case agrees. Two Stanley Cups, two Vezinas, and 456 regular-season wins career-wise.
His preseason debut went fine, too. Bobrovsky stopped 10 of 11 shots in half a game at Montreal on Saturday, a 4-3 overtime loss.
Maple Leafs players already rave about Bobrovsky's relentless routine
Morgan Rielly said the new netminder met every expectation the room had about his preparation. "He's just extremely dialled," the defenceman said Monday.
Darren Raddysh, another summer arrival, called the goalie "the hardest worker out there." Not bad for week one in a new locker room.
Hiller added that the veteran speaks softly enough that players have to lean in. "When he speaks, you listen," he said.
The routine reads like a decathlete's training log. Cardio, weight lifting, stretching, even gymnastics in the summer, and he says it's always changing.
"The biggest thing for me is stopping the puck," Bobrovsky said. Fair enough. Last season, the puck won that battle far too often.
And this is where the Leafs are taking a real risk. A goalie who slipped that badly at 37 rarely rediscovers his old level at 38, no matter how intense the gym sessions look.
Anthony Stolarz sits right behind him on the depth chart. That gives Hiller a safety valve if the early returns look shaky.
How long does a first-year coach wait before reaching for it? The regular-season opener against Montreal lands September 29 at home.
-
The locker room is already sold. Last season's tape hasn't been rewritten yet, and October won't grade anybody on aura.
Should Anthony Stolarz start the Maple Leafs' opener over Sergei Bobrovsky?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Bokondji Imama drops the gloves in first Panthers fight as cuts approach
