Revisiting The Sergei Bobrovsky Trade years later

The summer of 2012 saw the Philadelphia Flyers trade Sergei Bobrovsky to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Since then, Bobrovsky has had his ups and downs in his career. But who ultimately came out as the winner of this trade?

Although Bobrovsky was eligible for the NHL draft in 2006, he was never drafted due to complications with signing Russian players. However, four years later, Paul Holmgren signed him and the rest is history.


In the 2010 season, Bobrovsky signed a three-year entry-level contract and was quickly promoted to the starting job after training camp, bypassing Adirondack AHL. He made his NHL debut by defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Consol Energy Center, becoming the youngest player to win an opener at just 22 years old.


He finished the regular season strong, but in a weird turn of events, was torched in the post-season:


During the playoffs, Bob lost his starting job to Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher, and the Boston Bruins defeated him in the second round. He then asked to be traded after Ilya Bryzgalov joined the team, and he eventually went to Columbus in exchange for Anthony Stolarz and Taylor Leier.

After Bryzgalov's buyout, the Flyers brought in Steve Mason and signed Bob's replacements, neither of which were long-term solutions. Leier and Stolarz also had short stays, with Leier currently playing in the SHL after being in Buffalo and the AHL.

Bob is now thriving in Florida and has returned to his Vezina-winning form from his early days with the Blue Jackets. Despite not having much postseason success until 2019, when they swept the Tampa Bay Lightning, he's now in a Bryzgalov-like situation where his AAV is too high and could hinder the development of a younger goalie.

Overall, it seems neither team came out as the clear winner in the trade, but Columbus did get more success out of Bob than the Flyers did.