While the celebrations continue for the Florida Panthers, who repeated as Stanley Cup champions with their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final victory over the Edmonton Oilers, they’ve since brought in a new young goaltender.
The Panthers are acquiring goaltender Daniil Tarasov from the Columbus Blue Jackets and are sending a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft in return.
The Panthers Have a New Russian Goaltender To Pair With Sergei Bobrovsky
The trade was completed on Thursday and then made official with an announcement on social media by the Panthers:
We've acquired goaltender Daniil Tarasov from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for our fifth-round selection (160th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft.
📝 » https://t.co/mY77K319d1 pic.twitter.com/RJEs3NLxTi
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) June 26, 2025
The Blue Jackets then released a statement thanking the new Panthers goalie for his contributions to them over the years.
“On behalf of the Blue Jackets, I’d like to thank Daniil for his contributions to our organization over the past four years,” Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said. “He is an outstanding young man, and we wish he and his family well in the future.”
The Panthers will have to sign Tarasov to a new contract, as he’s currently set to become a restricted free agent on July 1.
It remains to be seen what Panthers general manager Bill Zito decides to do about their goaltending situation, for whom will play backup to starter Sergei Bobrovsky. Vitek Vanecek, whom they acquired from the San Jose Sharks, is about to become an unrestricted free agent.
It’s possible that Vanacek could be back with the Panthers on a short-term contract, while Tarasov could also be signed and given more playing time in the American Hockey League with the Charlotte Checkers.
Tarasov, who was selected by Columbus in the third round (No. 86) of the 2017 NHL Draft, has played parts of four seasons with the Blue Jackets. But he began to see less ice time with the Blue Jackets down the stretch of this most recent season, as Columbus instead began to see what they had in young goaltender Jet Greaves when starter Elvis Merzļikins wasn’t playing.
It was Greaves who essentially replaced Tarasov on the Columbus depth chart with his hot streak to end the season, making Tarasov expendable. Now, he could get a chance to try and prove that he can play regular minutes as a backup in the NHL with the Panthers if they decide to extend him.
A native of Novokuznetsk, Russia, Tarasov has amassed a career NHL record of 19-34-6 with a 3.44 goals-against average, a .898 save percentage, and one shutout in 65 appearances. He’s also represented Russia on the international stage.
