While draft day left most looking ahead to the potential assets being acquired by Columbus, there was a story that slowly built throughout the day regarding restricted free agent and Vezina winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Words like “optimistic” and “close” were used frequently, leading the masses to believe that a contract wasn’t a question of if, but when. A nice change from the conversations suggesting the KHL was calling and offering big money.
Monday did not disappoint, with the news slowing starting to trickle in from various media sources claiming a two year deal was made. The explanations, ranging from three million per season to six million per season, were confirmed shortly thereafter at two years, with an average cap hit of $5.625 million.
There are a lot of positives to take out of this deal, with plenty of questions left unanswered.
To begin, Bob’s work ethic appears to be off the charts. For the stigma around Russian players being somewhat lazy, Bobrovsky is the type of player who breaks the mold. Constantly working on the technical aspects of goaltending, quotes flooded in during the early points of the 2013 season suggesting he would never be outworked. This leads to a great deal of optimism from me in thinking that even with an extended contract, we can hope his competitive nature will drive him more than money will.
Second to work ethic is his drive to play in the best league in the world, and more importantly, in a Columbus Blue Jackets jersey. I don’t have a specific quote to confirm it, but I remember reading his interest in playing in the NHL was strictly for Columbus. This team and fan base have come a remarkably long way in a few short years, going from a place where players enjoyed playing, to a place where players flat out want to play.
In addition to those individual intangibles, we can also lump in the fact that Bobrosvky was Columbus’ most valuable player this past season, and it really wasn’t a contest. When he played excellent, they won, even when the team played subpar hockey as a whole. This was the first true sign of a strong goaltender since Mason’s Calder year, and proved that hard nosed hockey with the right goaltender can be successful in the NHL.
Bobrovsky’s career numbers aren’t exactly stellar, marred by a rough 2011/2012 season with Philadelphia where he only managed a .899 save percentage. With that in mind, his career .917 is solid, and most certainly, his .932 season with Columbus was the justification of a big raise along with his Vezina win.
It’s worth considering other goalies cap hits in the league to see where Bob falls:
- Rinne – 7 million
- Lundqvist – 6.875 million
- Price – 6.5 million
- Ward – 6.5 million
- Miller – 6.3 million
- Lehtonen – 5.9 million
- Kiprusoff – 5.833 million
- Quick – 5.8 million
- Smith – 5.666 million
- Bobrovsky – 5.625 million
- Luongo – 5.333 million
- Howard – 5.291 million
- Fleury – 5 million
- DiPietro – 4.5 million
- Hiller – 4.5 million
- Brodeur – 4.5 million
- Schneider – 4 million
- Pavelec – 3.9 million
- Niemi – 3.8 million
- Halak – 3.785 million
***Information acquired via CapGeek
As you can see, Bob is now in elite company, being the 10th highest cap hit (goaltender) in the NHL. I would argue for or against a handful of players on that list, as would most, but I think it gives us a great benchmark for expectations on Bobrovsky moving forward. Yes, he all but single handedly kept Columbus in the hunt for a playoff spot, and yes, his numbers were outstanding, but he’ll need to continue to play at that level to justify a similar contract moving into his RFA days, not to mention a longer term deal.
The Jackets now have eleven forwards, seven defensemen, and two goaltenders under contract. They have over 9 million in cap space to work with after Bobrovsky’s contract hits the books, which offers plenty of flexibility. While some teams don’t have the ability to offer a shorter contract to potential elite players like Columbus has done with Bob here, the room is there to add additional bodies without any major cap concerns. A large chunk (7.5m) rolls off the cap at the end of this year with Gaborik, leaving even more room for flexibility.
I look forward to seeing Bob play into this contract, proving his worth over the next two seasons. Rather than try to gift him a ten year deal, the Columbus front office managed to put a contract in place that would allow him to justify a long term deal without the threat of losing him as an unrestricted free agent. With pessimisms aside, this deal could turn out extremely beneficial for the future success of Columbus overall.
Carry the Flag!
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