Background and career
Sergei Andreyevich Bobrovsky (Russian: Серге́й Андреевич Бобровский; born 20 September 1988) is a Russian professional ice hockey player who is a goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also played in the NHL for the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Florida Panthers. Bobrovsky is a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, winning in the 2012–13 and 2016–17 seasons while a member of the Blue Jackets. After signing with Florida in 2019, Bobrovsky backstopped the Panthers to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2024 and 2025. In February 2023, Bobrovsky achieved the most wins for a Russian goaltender in NHL history, surpassing Evgeni Nabokov. As of 2026, Bobrovsky has the seventh most wins of any goaltender in league history.
Bobrovsky was not drafted into the NHL, and did not speak much English when he first got to the league. Philadelphia Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren has said that the Flyers considered drafting him during the 2006 NHL entry draft, but ultimately decided not to given the difficulty of signing Russian players at the time. After playing his first four professional seasons with Metallurg Novokuznetsk in Russia, Bobrovsky signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Flyers on 6 May 2010. He was initially slated to begin his North American career with the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Adirondack Phantoms, but after impressing coaches during training camp, Bobrovsky replaced the injured starter Michael Leighton on the roster. After Leighton recovered, Bobrovsky continued to share goaltending duties with Brian Boucher. Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette named Bobrovsky the starting goaltender for the opening game of the 2010–11 season against the Pittsburgh Penguins on 7 October 2010. In his NHL debut, Bobrovsky picked up a 3–2 win and was named the game's first star in the first regular season game at Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center. At 22 years and 17 days, he became the youngest goaltender to win a season-opening game for the Flyers, eclipsing Ron Hextall, who started at 22 years and 159 days on 9 October 1986. Bobrovsky was also the first Flyers rookie goaltender to win his NHL debut since Antero Niittymäki did so in 2004. Bobrovsky enjoyed a successful rookie season, posting a 28–13–8 record along with a .915 save percentage. After a disappointing showing during the playoffs, however, in which he was often benched in favour of backup Brian Boucher, the Flyers signed Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year contract to be their new starting goaltender.
After a season backing-up Bryzgalov, on 22 June 2012, Bobrovsky was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Columbus' 2012 second-round pick, a 2012 fourth-round pick, and the Phoenix Coyotes' 2013 fourth-round pick. As a result of the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Bobrovsky signed a contract with SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), but returned to the Blue Jackets when the lockout finished. After splitting time early in the season, Bobrovsky supplanted Steve Mason as Columbus' starting goaltender; it was Bobrovsky's first time as a starter since his rookie season in Philadelphia. Bobrovsky was instrumental in the Blue Jackets' push for a playoff spot, which ultimately came up just short as the team finished in ninth place in the Western Conference. Despite this, Bobrovsky had 21 wins, and career bests of a 2.00 goals against average (GAA) and a .932 save percentage. With this performance, he was awarded the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league's top goaltender during the regular season.
On 1 July 2013, Bobrovsky signed a two-year, $11.25 million contract extension with the Blue Jackets. On 3 July 2013, he was named to the NHL first All-Star team. On 3 December, Bobrovsky was injured in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and would be out for four-to-five weeks. He returned to action on 6 January 2014, against the New York Rangers, earning a shootout victory by the score of 4–3. Bobrovsky also made a robbing glove save in the shootout on former Blue Jackets forward star Rick Nash, which was considered to be the game-saving save. Bobrovsky backstopped the Blue Jackets in the 2014 playoffs, where they played the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. On 19 April 2014, the Blue Jackets won their first playoff game in franchise history in game two of the series, 4–3, followed by their second-ever playoff victory in game four. Bobrovsky played well in game five, saving 48 of 50 shots for a 0.960 save percentage, although the Blue Jackets lost the game 3–1. The Blue Jackets were ultimately eliminated in game six on 28 April, losing 4–3. During the 2016–17 season, Bobrovsky posted a record of 41–17–5, good enough for second in the league while also setting a Blue Jackets franchise record for wins in a season by a goaltender. He also posted a 2.06 GAA, .931 save percentage (both of which led the league among qualifying goaltenders) and recorded seven shutouts (third in the league). He, along with the Washington Capitals' Braden Holtby, were the only goaltenders in the league to be in the top-five in each goaltender statistic category. For his efforts, Bobrovsky was rewarded with his second Vezina Trophy. Bobrovsky was also named a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the most valuable player of the regular season alongside Pittsburgh Penguins centre and captain Sidney Crosby and Edmonton Oilers centre and captain Connor McDavid, which eventually ended with McDavid winning the award while Crosby finished second in the voting and Bobrovsky finishing third in the voting. However, Bobrovsky's regular season success did not carry over to the 2017 playoffs—in a 4–1 series loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Bobrovsky won only one game, posting a 3.88 GAA and .882 save percentage. A 37–22–6 record during the 2017–18 season was once again good enough to propel the Blue Jackets to a playoff spot as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. They faced the second-seeded and eventual Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals in the first round, falling in six games. Bobrovsky posted a 3.18 goals-against-average during the playoffs. The Blue Jackets narrowly qualified for the postseason the next year as the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference, behind Bobrovsky's 37 wins. The Blue Jackets upset the Presidents' Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning, sweeping them in four games. The win marked the first series win in franchise history. They faced the third-seeded Boston Bruins in the second round, falling in six games. Bobrovsky posted a 2.41 goals against average and .925 save percentage during the playoffs.
On 1 July 2019, Bobrovsky signed a seven-year, $70 million contract with the Florida Panthers. On 10 February 2020, Bobrovsky played his 500th NHL game as the Panthers lost 4–1 to the Philadelphia Flyers. He struggled through a down year, posting a record of 23–16–9 through 50 games in the 2019–20 regular season before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the league. His 3.23 GAA and .900 save percentage were both his worst since 2011–12, his last year before joining the Blue Jackets. Bobrovsky started all four games of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs Qualifying Round against the New York Islanders, allowing 12 goals as the Panthers dropped the series to the Islanders 3–1.
The NHL resumed the 2020–21 season in a divisional format in light of the pandemic. Bobrovsky recorded a 19–8–2 record with a 2.91 GAA and .906 save percentage, improving on his prior year's results, but the 2021 playoffs saw the Panthers defeated by the Lightning in the first round, with Bobrovsky recording a .841 save percentage over three games before losing the net to backup Chris Driedger. After two seasons with disappointing results, Bobrovsky's contract with the Panthers became a subject of considerable debate as to its value and whether it was hindering the team's results. The 2021–22 season saw a turnaround in regular-season results for Bobrovsky, who led the league in wins (39) as the Panthers won the Presidents' Trophy as the best team of the regular season. In the 2022 playoffs, the Panthers defeated the eighth-seeded Washington Capitals in the first round in six games, the team's first series win since 1996. They were then swept by the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion and fifth-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
