Panthers acquire goaltender Vitek Vanecek from Sharks
The Florida Panthers have acquired goalie Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for forward Patrick Giles, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed Wednesday.
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After shipping out netmider Spencer Knight on Saturday, the defending Stanley Cup champions have added another goaltender to their ranks.
The Florida Panthers have acquired goalie Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for forward Patrick Giles, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed Wednesday. The deal was first reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press.
Vanecek has a 3.88 goals against average and .882 save percentage in 18 games for the 17-37-9 Sharks this season.
Giles, 25, made his NHL debut with the Panthers this season and has yet to register a point through nine games. He has five goals and two assists in 39 AHL games with the Charlotte Checkers in 2024-25.
Vanecek, 29, will most likely become the primary backup to Sergei Bobrovsky after the Panthers traded Knight to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday in the deal to acquire defenceman Seth Jones.
Bobrovsky and Knight have been the only two goaltenders to appear in the Panthers’ crease in 2024-25.
Chris Driedger, 30, would be the other option in net for Florida. Driedger has a 2.97 goals against average and .878 save percentage in 20 games for the Checkers this season.
Vanecek has a $3.4 million cap hit this season, but the Panthers have plenty of cap room with star forward Matthew Tkachuk on LTIR.
