FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers are betting that three familiar faces can recapture past promise in South Florida, bringing back goaltender Jacob Markstrom, defenseman Radko Gudas, and defenseman Alexander Petrovic for the 2026-27 season after all three spent years elsewhere in the NHL.
General Manager Bill Zito acquired Markstrom and forward Angus Crookshank from New Jersey in exchange for Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist, and Ben Steeves the day before free agency opened July 1. “Jacob is an established veteran leader in this league who possesses size and a relentless drive to win,” Zito said. “We are excited for him to compete alongside our established group and return to South Florida.”
Markstrom and Petrovic were both second-round draft picks by the Panthers — Markstrom in 2008, Petrovic in 2010 — and both were once expected to anchor the franchise’s future, Florida Hockey Now reported. Markstrom was tagged as the “goalie of the future” and led all Panthers netminders with 35 appearances during the shortened 2013 season, but he never secured the No. 1 job under then-general manager Dale Tallon. He was traded to Vancouver in the deal that brought Roberto Luongo back to Florida, a move that helped reshape the franchise. Markstrom went on to become an elite starter in Vancouver, appearing in as many as 60 games a season, before stints in Calgary and New Jersey. His last season in New Jersey saw his goals-against average drop to 3.07 with an .883 save percentage.
Petrovic’s path was rockier. After bouncing between the Panthers and the AHL in his early pro years, he became a regular by 2015-16 and posted a career-best plus-17 mark on a Jaromir Jagr-led team that returned to the playoffs after a three-year absence. He remained with Florida for parts of three more seasons before being traded to Edmonton on Dec. 29, 2018. His career spiraled through stops in Boston, Calgary, and Dallas, with most of his time spent in the AHL. He is perhaps best remembered as the extra defenseman Tallon chose to protect in the 2018 expansion draft — a decision that allowed Vegas to select Jonathan Marchessault and facilitated a trade sending Reilly Smith to the Golden Knights, where both flourished. Petrovic spent last season entirely with Dallas and earned a two-year, one-way contract at the league minimum, signed on the first day of free agency. He will likely compete with Uvis Balinskis, Donovan Sebrango, and Mikulas Hovorka for the seventh defensive spot.
Gudas returns after spending the past three seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, where he was named team captain. He is expected to start alongside Dmitry Kulikov on the third pairing. The Panthers have a history of welcoming back former players — Ed Jovanovski, Luongo, Evgenii Dadonov, and Kulikov among them.
Panthers training camp opens in early-to-mid September in Fort Lauderdale, with the preseason beginning Sept. 20 against the Carolina Hurricanes. Florida opens the 2026-27 regular season at Carolina on Sept. 29 at 5 p.m. on ESPN, with the home opener against the Minnesota Wild set for Oct. 10 at 6 p.m.