James Reimer signs with the Florida Panthers

James Reimer will not rejoin the San Jose Sharks in the 2016-17 season. The netminder signed a five-year contract with the Florida Panthers worth $3.4 million a year. Reimer played in a total of nine games for the Sharks, starting eight and coming in to relieve Martin Jones once in the playoffs.

This contract is bigger than what the Sharks were going to give him, but it’s interesting to note that he’ll likely be the understudy for Roberto Luongo for at least this season. Luongo’s contract runs until the 2022 season while Reimer’s ends in the 2021 campaign.

Luongo, 37, put up great numbers for the Panthers in the regular season and playoffs last year, but given his age Reimer should be a great secondary option for Florida. The Panthers are quietly putting together a very competitive team and having one of the best goaltending tandems in the NHL won’t hurt matters any.

The Sharks gave up a fourth-round conditional pick, Alex Stalock and Ben Smith to acquire Reimer and Jeremy Morin. That draft pick is in 2018 and became a third round pick once the Sharks reached the Stanley Cup Final. San Jose now has five draft picks in 2018.