Former Isles, Blackhawks and Blue Jackets goalie JF Berube signs a PTO

This just in, the Florida Panthers have signed goaltender Jean-Francois Berube to a professional tryout (PTO) contract.

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Interestingly enough, the Panthers had signed veteran goalie Andrew Hammond to a PTO contract last month, but it was terminated earlier this week before the team's training camp even began. It's believed that Hammond has a contract with KHL team Traktor Chelyabinsk lined up for the upcoming season.

So, without much competition for Spencer Knight and Sergei Bobrovsky between the pipes, the team has elected to bring Berube into camp in an effort to push their top two netminders.

As for Berube, he played just six games for the Columbus Blue Jackets last season as the third stringer to Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo. He has played just 40 career NHL games split between the Blue Jackets, the Chicago Blackhawks and the New York Islanders. He's mostly a career AHL netminder who has played for the affiliates of the previous mentioned teams as well as the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings.