Florida called up defenseman Uvis Balinskis from AHL Charlotte

The Florida Panthers are set to battle the Nashville Predators Thursday night at Amerant Bank Arena.

There were some questions hanging over the Panthers heading into the game regarding the team’s roster, and some of those questions have been answered.

Florida captain Sasha Barkov will be a game-time decision after being held out of the team’s past two practices.

Barkov has been dealing with a nagging injury and the team is trying to get him as healed as possible before getting him back to game action.

“This is not major,” Maurice said of Barkov’s injury. “The question is, can we clean something up in another day, and that’s what we’re trying to figure out. He’s right there. The medical guys are going to make a decision on what they think another day will do.”

If it’s deemed that taking the game off will provide a significant boost to the injury’s healing, they’ll hold Barkov out against Nashville.

Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk, who left Monday’s practice after suffering an apparent injury, is “good to go,” per Maurice.

Florida also called up defenseman Uvis Balinskis from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers and he’ll slot into the lineup as well.

Earlier this week the NHL Department of Player Safety suspended Dmitry Kulikov two games for his illegal check to the head of Conor Sheary during Saturday’s game between Florida and Tampa Bay.

With Kulikov out and the Panthers already missing Aaron Ekblad, who will remain sidelined at least through Saturday with a lower-body injury, Florida was down to only newly acquired defenseman Tobias Bjornfot on the active roster as a potential replacement. 

The 22-year-old waiver claim is still getting acclimated to Florida’s defensive systems and the team felt more comfortable going with Balinskis, someone who has been with the team, knows its systems well and has the confidence of the coaching staff to step in and know what to do and where to be.

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