Florida Panthers Trade for a Backup Goalie

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers made another trade Wednesday, swinging a deal with the San Jose Sharks for goalie Vitek Vanecek.

Vanecek, who has played five seasons in the NHL, will backup Sergei Bobrovsky moving forward and is expected to make his first start Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres.

With the Sharks in Denver, Vanecek is said to be heading to the airport to fly to South Florida and should be the backup Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Panthers sent rookie forward Patrick Giles to the Sharks.

No money was retained in the deal.

Vanecek, 29, will be a free agent after this season but gives Florida an experienced option behind Bobrovsky.

For the Sharks this season, Vanecek was 3-10-3 with a .882/3.88.

Florida had called up Chris Driedger from AHL Charlotte after trading Spencer Knight to the Blackhawks.

Coach Paul Maurice says the Panthers will not keep three goalies — meaning Driedger will be headed back to Charlotte.

“He is a good player and we have a heavy schedule,’’ Maurice said of Vanecek. “It’s actually good because we bring in a guy that has NHL experience and we’re going to need to play him games to make sure Sergei’s numbers are at the right level.

“We need to win those games, so we needed a guy that could come in and stop the puck.’’