Sergei Bobrovsky Jersey Card

(team and product links go to sponsored Amazon products, player links go to related pages on my blog, news links go to source pages)

When Sergei Bobrovsky signed his three-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs last summer, it was widely believed the final year would be an anchor, perhaps the second year as well; a number of people (experts and fans) had doubts he would be able to return to form at 38 years old, but a majority were confident he would at least be an upgrade over what the Leafs had in place last season.

I was of the mind that regular-season Bob had only had three above-average years in out of seven with the Florida Panthers, but that playoff Bob had been elite for the past four tries (the last one being two seasons ago, in 2024-25), with three Finals and two Stanley Cups to show for it, so there was a risk I could understand starting in mid-April 2027, but from October 2026 until March 2027, he might even be a downgrade from Joseph Woll and Dennis Heldeby, two at-times promising young netminders who were dealt to make room for Bobrovsky.

Which doesn't take away from his first-ballot Hall Of Fame resume, it's just that his two Vezina-winning seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets are so far back they don't even show up in the rearview mirror.

And so am I surprised he's lost his last five games (courtesy of Hockey-Reference)?

No, not at all. It's to be expected. He's 38, playing in a new system after seven years behind one of the most accomplished blue lines in the league. Heck, even the move from Columbus to Florida took some time to gel:

So what I'm saying is: I wouldn't have made that bet, but if you did, this should have been part of it, and you probably need to see it play out. Unlike how the Philadelphia Flyers dealt with him, letting him have a very good rookie season and quickly turning their sights onto the new flavour of the day, Ilya Bryzgalov. Ironically, the Flyers traded him to the Blue Jackets for a trio of draft picks, and one of them became Anthony Stolarz, who backed him up in Florida and now again in Toronto.

Here is Bob in the Flyers' golious orange 1970s-inspired uniform, on card #GJ-SB from Upper Deck's 2011-12 Series 1 set and Game Jersey sub-set:

It features a black game-worn jersey swatch.