Hours before Sergei Bobrovsky's Stanley Cup heroics, Anthony Rizzo gave verdict on Panthers goaltender's all-time status

Former New York Yankees star Anthony Rizzo was present at Amerant Bank Arena as the Florida Panthers wrapped up the Stanley Cup against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. The infielder, who has stayed away from the spotlight after failing to sign with the club in the offseason, celebrated one of the key members of the Panthers' setup via his Instagram story.

Rizzo posted Panthers veteran goalie Sergei Bobrovsky as he was introduced to the center circle before the game. He captioned the video by calling him the goat, writing:

"Game 6 Bob the [goat emoji]."

Along with Rizzo, all the fans inside the stadium could be seen cheering on their backstop.

Anthony Rizzo's Instagram story about Sergei Bobrovsky (Source: Instagram @arizz_44)

On Tuesday, Bobrovsky joined an elite group of goalies, including Hall of Famers, who have won the Vezina Trophy, which is awarded to the best goalie in the league. He had a .918 save percentage this year, improving from the .906 percentage he recorded last year. On Tuesday. Bobrovsky made 28 saves and almost got his fourth shutout of the playoffs before Vasily Podkolzin scored a goal in garbage time for the Oilers.

Anthony Rizzo seems to be a big fan of Florida sports teams. He was born and raised in Parkland, Florida, a suburb of Miami. He went to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and had also been accepted by the Florida Atlantic University before being drafted by the Boston Red Sox during the 2007 MLB Draft.

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Anthony Rizzo is hopeful to play for a club in 2025

There is yet to be an update regarding Anthony Rizzo's MLB career. The Yankees had declined a $17.5 million player option exercised by Rizzo at the end of last season, instead giving him a $6 million buyout. The team replaced him at first base by signing Paul Goldschmidt to a one-year $12.5 million.

This was done in hopes of making an improvement from the first base position, as Rizzo's numbers had steeped significantly since coming to the Bronx in 2021. In three and a half seasons with the club, Rizzo recorded an average of .234 with just 172 RBIs. Defensively, he made several telling errors that forced the Yankees' hand. However, he felt he deserved to get a contract while speaking to The Athletic in his most recent public interview.

“I’ve definitely thought about it. I think I have a lot to give to the game still,” Rizzo had said in February. "But at the same time, if teams are not going to want to pay a few million dollars for veterans, I’ve seen it the last 10 years of my career. It’s what happens to the older guys. They kind of get squeezed. You’ve seen it happen more and more. I’m not naive to it. It could be it.”

It could be that Rizzo is still nursing a wrist injury that kept him on the 60-day Injured List season. He had also fractured two fingers while playing at first towards the end of the regular season.