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Florida Panthers sign James Reimer to five-year, $17M deal

SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 21: James Reimer #34 of the San Jose Sharks defends the net against the St. Louis Blues in Game Four of the Western Conference Finals during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on May 21, 2016 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 21: James Reimer #34 of the San Jose Sharks defends the net against the St. Louis Blues in Game Four of the Western Conference Finals during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on May 21, 2016 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images)

The Florida Panthers have signed goaltender James Reimer to a five-year contract worth $3.4 million per-year.

The decision to bring in Reimer should help the 37-year-old Roberto Luongo get added rest during the regular season and could enable the Panthers to shift to Reimer once Luongo decides to retire.

The 28-year-old Reimer played 40 games last season between the Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks. In 32 games with the Leafs he had a 2.49 goal-against average and .918 save percentage. In eight games with San Jose, Reimer held a 1.62 goal-against average and .938 save percentage.

Reimer led goaltenders who had played at least 1,500 5-on-5 minutes with a .9404 save percentage.

In 207 career NHL games, Reimer is 85-76-23 with a 2.83 goal-against average and .914 save percentage.

Luongo is under contract on a long-term deal that runs through 2021-22. Last season, Luongo finished fourth in Vezina Trophy voting and held a 2.35 goal-against average and .922 save percentage.

With Reimer in the mix, the Panthers currently have $59,283,332 dedicated to 43 contracts and $14,666,668 of salary cap space. The team still needs to sign restricted free agent forward Vincent Trocheck to a contract.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!