When the Panthers were doing their due diligence before free agency, president and CEO Matt Caldwell flew to Salzburg, Austria, where Bobrovsky trained for eight years in the offseason before going to Vierumaki, Finland. Caldwell walked around and talked to people.
"You want to make sure that everything you hear is true," Caldwell said. "There's much more stuff we did, but I think that was the most impactful."
The Panthers ended up making a major commitment, signing Bobrovsky to a seven-year contract. He turns 31 on Sept. 20.
"Bottom line is, we made ourselves very comfortable to go ahead and do this," Caldwell said. "The way we look at is, we've got a five-, six-year window here. You need good goaltending. So, you know, why don't you lock that up with one of the best out there?"
It's early. But the Panthers' first impression of Bobrovsky?
Everything they hear is true.
"He's a guy you can tell he's prepared, he knows what he's doing and he's going to do his job," defenseman Keith Yandle said. "And I think he brings a calmness back there."
The Panthers have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs five times in 25 seasons, once in the past seven. Last season, they finished 12 points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. They were ninth in goals (3.22 per game) and second on the power play (26.8 percent). The problem was keeping the puck out of the net. Their 5-on-5 save percentage tied for the Ottawa Senators for 29th (.907).
So they hired coach Joel Quenneville on April 8, and Quenneville helped recruit Bobrovsky. Over the past seven seasons, Bobrovsky's even-strength save percentage is .929, first in the NHL among goalies who played at least 250 games.