Panthers Trade For Vitek Vanecek

     The Florida Panthers have acquired goalie Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks for forward Patrick Willis. Vanecek will hold the role of backup goalie on the depth chart behind Sergei Bobrovsky. 

     Vanecek does have some history against the Panthers. He started several games in the 2022 first-round postseason clash with the Washington Capitals. Florida ended up winning their first postseason series in 26 years since the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

     He had previously played for two seasons with the Caps and the New Jersey Devils. Vanecek has a 3-10-3 record with a 3.88 goals-against-average and an .882 saver percentage in 2024-25 with San Jose. 

     Willis made his National Hockey League debut with the Cats this season. He has no points so far in nine contests.