The Florida Panthers gave new coach Joel Quenneville some big pieces heading into next season with the signings of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and defenseman Anton Stralman on Monday.
The Panthers announced both signings, and according to reports, Bobrovsky gets a seven-year deal with an annual average value of $10 million, and Stralman gets $5.5 million per year for three years.
Bobrovsky's deal has the second-highest AAV in the league for goalies behind Montreal's Carey Price.
The Panthers were busy, also signing forwards Brett Connolly and Noel Acciari. All told, the Panthers committed $104.5 million Monday and general manager Dale Tallon was thrilled to add four players with playoff experience.
"All we're trying to do is make our team better for the long haul," Tallon said. "And whatever that plan was, we stuck with it and we were very successful at getting it done, I think."
Bobrovsky was the subject of rumors at this year's trade deadline, but the Blue Jackets decided to go all-in and kept him, along with Artemi Panarin. Columbus also traded for Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel and finally won a playoff series -- in dramatic fashion -- sweeping the Presidents' Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning. Columbus lost in the second round to Boston. One of the knocks on Bobrovsky was that he didn't rise to the occasion in the playoffs. But he put that to rest this season, posting a 2.41 goals-against average and .925 save percentage and was even better against the Lightning, giving up only eight goals and posting a .932 save percentage.
The 30-year-old is a two-time Vezina Trophy winner (2013, '17) and was an All-Star in 2017. He is coming off a four-year, $29.7 million contract.
Bobrovsky went 37-24-1 with a 2.58 goals-against average and .913 save percentage this season.
"He's a two-time Vezina Trophy winner and he gives you a chance to win every night," Tallon said. "He's durable. He's a student of the game. Nobody works harder."
In January, Bobrovsky was held out of an overtime win against the Nashville Predators due to an "internal matter" resulting from an unspecified "incident." Bobrovsky later told reporters that his emotions got the best of him during a loss to Tampa Bay in which he was pulled in the third period.
Stralman took a back-seat role in the Lightning's run to a record-tying 62 wins during the regular season. He played in just 47 games -- his fewest since 2008-09 -- due to both injuries and being scratched from the lineup, then never saw the ice in the postseason, as Tampa Bay was surprisingly swept by the Blue Jackets.
The 32-year-old Stralman has 12 seasons of NHL experience with 47 goals and 195 assists in 749 career games with the Lightning, Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Stralman wrapped up a five-year, $22.5 million contract last season.
On Sunday, the Panthers traded goaltender James Reimer to the Hurricanes for goalie Scott Darling and a sixth-round draft pick. On Monday, the Panthers bought out the last two years of Darling's deal that had an AAV of $4.15 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.