Bobrovsky signing gives Maple Leafs 'best shot at making the playoffs'

Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Also known as "The Hockey Maven," Stan brings his insight and humor to NHL.com each Wednesday. With the free agency season in full swing, one of the bigger moves had goalie Sergei Bobrovsky signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs, which heralds a new Toronto hockey era with fresh management and coaching while leaving one unanswered question: Will "Bob," at age 38, remain a big winner? History is on Bobrovsky's side. Three Maple Leafs goalies, Turk Broda, Johnny Bower and Ed Belfour played some of their best hockey as older competitors.

How big a gamble is Sergei Bobrovsky for the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Glenn "Chico" Resch, a goalie on the New York Islanders' 1980 Stanley Cup-winning team, believes they made the right move by signing the goalie, who turns 38 on Sept. 20, to a three-year contract July 1.

"I like the fact that Toronto signed Bobrovsky," Resch, a radio analyst for the New Jersey Devils said in an email. "Bob is the Leafs' best shot at making the playoffs. He's a team and individual-driven goalie who understands many nights that he has to be a difference-maker, which he still can be.

"His lateral movement, pushes and crease coverage still are very solid. His reflexes and awareness are still excellent. Plus, he can still make a terrific second-effort save."

Other goaltending savants such as former goalie, goalie coach and New York Rangers radio analyst David Starman believe the addition was a wise one. 

"I believe in veteran goalies," Starman said via email. "Bobrovsky will give the Leafs stability and swagger. He's played on not one but two Stanley Cup-winning teams. Having those championship rings in the room should help calm some Leafs' stormy seas."

Bobrovsky could become the second coming of franchise-saving goalie like Ed Belfour, who joined Toronto for the 2002-03 season at age 37. Belfour won a then-Maple Leafs record 37 games that season with a 2.26 goals-against average, .922 save percentage and seven shutouts to finish third in Vezina Trophy voting behind winner Martin Brodeur and Marty Turco. He went 34-19-6 the following season with a 2.13 GAA, .918 save percentage and 10 shutouts that ranked second in the NHL behind Brodeur's 11.

Bobrovsky became as much a fixture in Sunrise, Florida, as the sunset. He left a two-time Stanley Cup champion (2024, '25) and his 201 regular-season wins in seven seasons with the Florida Panthers third in the NHL behind Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning (228) and Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets (228).

"To be honest," Bobrovsky said, "I thought I'm going to stay in Florida, but things work out like how they work out. The Leafs put their trust in me. In Florida this past season, we had lots of injuries. Our captain (Aleksander Barkov) went down in our first practice and never played all year."

John Chayka, in his first season as Maple Leafs general manager, called Bobrovsky, who played no less than 50 games in every full season since 2021-22, "a real game-changer for us in terms of the stability, the consistency and the durability." By Toronto standards, the past favors a goalie on the far side of 30. Walter  "Turk" Broda was 35 in 1949 when the Maple Leafs won the Cup for the third consecutive season and still sharp at 37 when winning their fourth championship in five seasons.

Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe discovered Broda as a Detroit Red Wings farmhand in 1936 and said in 1950: "Broda is the greatest team player I ever had." A decade later, coach/general manager George "Punch" Imlach believed in Johnny "China Wall" Bower even after he passed his 40th birthday. 

"I always rated older players who have played in the NHL over those who have not," Imlach said. "Bower was my prime example."

"I had a lot left in me, even after 40," wrote Bower in his autobiography "The China Wall."

"I thrived on hard work, and I wanted to play every game  even though Punch had me spelled from time to time by Don Simmons and Terry Sawchuk."

Bower was 42 and still sharp when he helped Toronto to its last Stanley Cup title in 1967.

This season, Bobrovsky has a chance to show his stuff.

"What do the Leafs have with Bob?" Resch said. "They have a 'chance.' Sure, Toronto has gambled, but it's still a good signing because Bob is their best shot to get back into the 
postseason."

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger contributed to this report