As per a new report from THN's David Dwork, the Florida Panthers could be looking to add depth to their blueline.
According to The Hockey News' David Dwork, the Florida Panthers could be exploring the trade market as they look for additional depth on their blueline.
The Panthers' d-core took a major hit when Dmitry Kulikov sustained his injury. With the 35-year-old out long term, the Panthers have had to insert Uvis Balinskis into their top six, and the early results aren't what the Panthers were hoping for.
According to Natural Stat Trick, while improving as of late, the team is losing many of Balinskis and Jeff Petry's minutes. The Panthers have been outscored 5-3 with Balinskis on the ice at 5-on-5, giving up more high-danger chances and have been outshot.
The Panthers now own a 5-5-1 record, good enough for 11 points and are tied for third in the Atlantic Division.
The Panthers have options for depth defenseman, but the early signs indicate they aren't too confident in what they have.
After Balinskis, the Panthers' options include Tobias Bjornfot, who was recently reassigned to the AHL after a brief call-up stint where he didn't play and Donovan Sebrango, whom they claimed off waivers from the Ottawa Senators.
Teams are always on the lookout for depth defenseman, but the search usually starts closer to the trade deadline and the playoffs. The need for the Panthers comes earlier than expected, but injuries are playing a major role in this.
Outside of possibly not trusting the depth defenders they have, the Panthers may want to shore up their backend to prepare themselves in case of additional injuries. If any of their top four defensemen - Gustav Forsling, Seth Jones, Aaron Ekblad and Niko Mikkola - suffer any injuries, the Panthers would be in a vulnerable spot.
Finding someone capable of filling in their shoes is near impossible, but they would need to replace them with a community effort of depth defenseman, and they don't have what they need at the moment.
Dwork reports that he's curious to see if anything will come to fruition in the next few days or weeks, but as GM Bill Zito has previously demonstrated, he won't wait until it's too late to fix what he believes is an issue.
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