The Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup last season. Sergei Bobrovsky was a big reason why. At one point, he was one of the candidates to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.
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Not to mention, he was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy for his regular-season performance, putting behind the talk of him not living up to his contract. Yet Bobrovsky is being overlooked entering the 2024-25 season. Is the Florida Panthers really a dark horse to win his third Vezina Trophy?
TSN Hockey Analyst Martin Biron joined Laura Diakun on SportsCenter to discuss the latest topics heading into the 2024-25 NHL Season on the newest Inside Edge. Biron was asked who he thinks will win the Vezina and who is a dark horse to win the trophy.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
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Laura Diakun: Marty Biron is joining us now to give us the Inside Edge on, you guessed it, the goaltenders for the upcoming season. Marty FanDuel has listed the three co-favorites for the Vezina. We’ve got last year’s winner, Connor Hellebuyck. He’s one of them. Tied with Jeremy and Igor Shesterkin at +600. Of those three, who do you like the best?
Martin Biron: “Obviously, a former New York Rangers. I’m going to say Igor Shesterkin I really love Jeremy Swayman too. So I think those two, for me are the top two, but a dark horse, let’s look at Sergei Bobrovsky. This is incredible that Bobrovsky is like ninth on the list, and you’ve got all these goalies in front of him. He just won the Cup.
He’s won two Vezina trophies with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and he’s going to play a ton, in my opinion, in Florida. Anthony Stolarz is not there anymore. His backup, he battled with for most the season last year. Spencer knight will be there. But I look at Bobrovski and he usually puts 1,2,3, really, really good season.
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And last year was a fantastic season for him, and it continued into the playoffs. So I expect that he’s going to have a fantastic season with the Florida Panthers. They are a top team. So I look at the value in Bobrovsku and being ninth right now in those odds for the Vezina Trophy, I said, Bobrovsky is that dark horse. It can be a dark horse, but he is, when you look at the odds right now.”
Diakun: “That’s exactly what I was going to say. said Dark Horse Dark Horse, but yes, Bobrovsky was a finalist last year. He’s won the Vezina twice before. But you said value at +1500 might be worth a shot. Thanks very much, Marty.”
If you look at the numbers, Sergei Bobrovsky should be a favourite to win the Vezina Trophy, not a dark horse.