Florida Panthers trade James Reimer to Carolina Hurricanes for Scott Darling and pick

The Florida Panthers announced today that the club has acquired goaltender Scott Darling and a 2020 sixth round draft pick (via the Buffalo Sabres) from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for “1B” goaltender James Reimer.

The 30-year-old Darling has been placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a buyout.

Reimer signed a 5-year deal with the Panthers on July 1, 2016 and appeared in 123 games for the club over the past three seasons, posting an overall record of 53-42-16. His GAA rose from 2.53 in 2016-17 to 2.99 in 2017-18  to 3.09 in 2018-19 while his save percentage fell from .920 to .913 to .900 over the course of that time.

The buy-out of the remaining two years of Darling’s deal will last a total of four years with the following cap hits: 2019-20: $1.233M - 2020-21: $2.333M - 2021-22: $1.183M - 2022-23: $1.183M

With the retirement of Robert Luongo and the trade of Reimer, general manager Dale Tallon has cleared the deck for UFA and two-time Vezina-winner Sergei Bobrovsky. Can he reel the big Russian free-agent in? We should find out tomorrow.

While it’s certain, Bob or no Bob, the Panthers will have a new starting goalie as soon as tomorrow, what remains to seen is what the club will do for a backup. Do they bring a low-priced veteran or hand the job to prospect Samuel Montembeault?

Who will be the Cats backup next season?