Daniil Tarasov News: Acquired by Cats

Tarasov was brought in via trade by the Panthers from the Blue Jackets on Thursday in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick, Pierre LeBrun of TSN reports.

Tarasov heads into the offseason as a restricted free agent, so the Panthers still have to get him under contract ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. The 26-year-old backstop saw action in 20 games with Columbus this year in which he posted a 7-10-2 record to go with a 3.55 GAA, .880 save percentage and one shutout. Tarasov will head into the upcoming season as the No. 2 option behind Sergei Bobrovsky, who is entering the final year of his contract and is 36 years of age -- opening the door for Tarasov to potentially be the netminder of the future in Florida.