The Florida Panthers reportedly acquired goaltender Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday.
Florida was in need of a back-up goaltender after trading Spencer Knight to Chicago for Seth Jones — and they got one.
The Panthers sent rookie forward Patrick Giles to San Jose in exchange for the 29-year-old netminder.
Florida now has $5.3 million in cap space remaining with Matthew Tkachuk on long-team injured reserve after taking on Vanecek’s $3.4 million cap hit.
Vanecek is 3-10-3 with a .882 save percentage and a 3.88 goals-against average this season for the Sharks.
He previously played for the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals and has a career record of 92-54-20 with a .903 save percentage and a 2.82 goals-against average.
Vanecek had his best season in 2022-23, when he went 33-11-4 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.45 goals-against average and led the Devils to the playoffs as the starter.
This is a developing story which will be updated when more information becomes available.