The Panthers have acquired goaltender Vítek Vaněček from the Sharks in exchange for depth forward Patrick Giles, both teams announced. There is no salary retention in the deal, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic confirms. Vaněček was held out of his scheduled start against the Sabres last night for injury prevention in anticipation of a move.
Florida has been searching for a backup netminder to reigning Vezina nominee Sergei Bobrovsky for the past few days after they dealt Spencer Knight to the Blackhawks in last weekend’s Seth Jones trade. They recalled veteran third-stringer Chris Driedger from AHL Charlotte to serve as Bobrovsky’s No. 2 in the interim, but the 30-year-old has just a .878 SV% in 20 minor-league appearances this season and wasn’t viewed as a reliable insurance option for Bobrovsky in case he sustained an injury down the stretch or in the postseason.
Vaněček grades out as a slight upgrade, albeit an expensive one at a $3.4MM cap hit. The 29-year-old is in the final year of his contract, though, so there’s no long-term burden on Florida’s books. They’ll still have $5.3MM in cap space to make other moves before Friday’s deadline after placing star winger Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve.
The Czech netminder’s short stint with the Sharks was underwhelming, even behind the league’s most porous defense group. Acquired from the Devils at last year’s deadline, he didn’t suit up for San Jose until the 2024-25 campaign due to injuries. More injuries, namely a cheekbone fracture, limited him to 17 starts and one relief appearance while serving as the primary backup to Mackenzie Blackwood and Alexandar Georgiev, who were traded for each other in December, when healthy. He mustered a 3-10-3 record with a career-worst .882 SV% and 3.88 GAA.
Advanced numbers aren’t kind to Vaněček’s performance this season, either. His -0.56 goals saved above expected per 60 is worse than Georgiev’s -0.34, and he’s allowed a cumulative nine goals above expected on the season, per MoneyPuck. Among 55 goalies with at least 18 games played, Vaněček ranks 48th in total GSAx and 53rd in GSAx/60. His raw GAA is also the worst among the group. He’s also allowing 0.072 rebounds per save, second-worst in the league behind the Devils’ Jake Allen.
The Panthers are banking on a slight return to form behind a defense that allows five fewer shots per game than San Jose’s. Vaněček has been a serviceable tandem option in the past, posting a 33-11-4 record in a career-high 52 appearances with New Jersey in 2022-23 with a .911 SV% and 2.45 GAA. He’ll only be relied upon for a few starts down the stretch to give Bobrovsky some rest as the Cats compete for a third Atlantic Division title in four years. However, if Bobrovsky sustains an injury, he will be Florida’s primary insurance option in the playoffs. He has a highly subpar .834 SV% in 10 playoff appearances with the Capitals and Devils.
As for the Sharks’ new backup, it won’t be top prospect Yaroslav Askarov – at least for now. He’s still dealing with a lower-body injury after being returned to AHL San Jose a few weeks ago and isn’t currently available for a recall. It’ll be 25-year-old Georgi Romanov coming up to serve as the No. 2 in the Bay Area in the interim, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports.
In return for Vaněček, San Jose lands a low-ceiling depth center in Giles. The 25-year-old Maryland native made his NHL debut with the Cats at the beginning of the campaign, going without a point and posting a minus-one rating in nine games. He averaged 7:33 per game, won just 29.8% of his faceoffs, and recorded 16 hits while getting outshot 34-19 at 5v5 in sheltered usage, per Natural Stat Trick. Florida returned Giles to AHL Charlotte after Tomáš Nosek returned from an injury. The 6’5″, 216-lb forward has just 5-2–7 with a plus-three rating in 39 games since. He’ll now report to the Sharks’ AHL affiliate. He’s in the first year of a two-year, two-way deal and will be an RFA with arbitration rights in the summer of 2026.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report the Panthers and Sharks were working on a Vaněček deal. Tim Reynolds of the AP was first to report Florida was sending Giles to San Jose to complete the deal.
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