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I’m not even sure the Panthers themselves can make the case that Bobrovsky is the second-best goalie in the league—even top-five is a stretch. But in spending big to fill a dire need, the Panthers have quickly accelerated themselves back into potential playoff contention—where they haven’t been since a cameo in 2016. As long as Bobrovsky—entering his age-31 season—doesn’t fall into too steep a decline as the contract goes on, the Panthers look vastly improved while still maintaining some room to play around with their roster. According to Spotrac, they have $7 million left in cap space after the Bobrovsky deal—which they’ll need to get a few more forwards. And after the 2019–20 season, with the $9 million combined contracts of Mike Hoffman and Evgeny Dadonov expiring, they’ll have the flexibility to either lock up those scorers or try to upgrade them, if they regress in 2019–20.

The Panthers showed they meant business when they snatched Joel Quenneville in April to coach up their impressive core of young skaters, and with the eye-catching signing of the top goalie on the market, they’re forcing everyone to actually pay attention to them. The Panthers have a fantastic offense led by Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, as well as a solid defense led by Aaron Ekblad. With a more-than-passable goaltender now inserted into the mix, there’s now a second hockey team in Florida worth watching.