On what many think will be a busy day for the Blue Jackets, General Manager Scott Howson kicked things off by acquiring goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky from the Philadelphia Flyers. We first caught wind of the deal from TSN’s Darren Dreger, and the Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline took things further.
We’ll update when we know exactly what Philly got in the deal, but Portzline is reporting it’s the second rounder acquired in the Antoine Vermette deal, a 2013 pick, and one more additional pick.
UPDATE: Here is what Philly gets in the deal, from Dreger: 2nd and 4th rounders this year, 4th rounder next year.
Bobrovsky went 14-10-2 last season for Philly, putting up a 3.02 GAA and 0.899 SV%- his second season in the NHL after coming over from Russia as an undrafted free agent. His rookie year was much better statistically, where he put up a record of 28-13-8, with a GAA of 2.59 with a 0.915 SV%.
He’s in the final year of his entry-level deal, which carries a cap hit of $1.75 million.
My first thoughts are that Howson has overpayed for Bobrovsky, but given the fact that the Lightning recently shipped a pair of second round picks to Nashville for Andres Lindback, it puts things into perspective. Lindback and Bobrovsky are both untested backups, but Bob has the added benefit of essentially being a number one in his rookie year.
At this point my main concern is that the Jackets are done upgrading the goaltending position. Bobrovsky just isn’t a number one to me- the thought of a Bob/Mason combo will not help me sleep better at night.
I don’t think Howson is done, this is just the beginning. In the meantime, this will give the team a different look between the pipes, and if Bobrovsky can match, or exceed his rookie numbers this could turn out to be a good deal for the Jackets.