In the past week Florida removed Josh Mahura from Injured Reserve and recalled Uvis Balinskis from AHL Charlotte

When the Florida Panthers took the ice for practice on Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena, there was an abundance of red jerseys on the ice.

It hasn’t been often that the Panthers have kept more than seven defensemen on the active roster, but there were eight men wearing red following the recall of Uvis Balinskis from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers and the removal of Josh Mahura from Injured Reserve.

For Balinskis, the past few days have probably felt like a whirlwind. 

The 27-year-old first year NHL’er scored a goal in his only game with the Checkers on Saturday after being loaned to Charlotte by Florida the day before.

Now he’s returned to Sunrise and was back on a pairing with Mahura as the Panthers fourth defensive duo during Tuesday's workout. 

For Mahura, it was his first full contact practice with the team after coming off IR last weekend.

Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice had previously said Mahura could return to game action as soon as Wednesday against Dallas, but now it seems that may get stretched to Friday’s game against Pittsburgh.

“It was good,” Maurice said of Mahura’s skate on Tuesday. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow, but I don't think he's very far from being ready to play.”

Maurice seemed to indicate that the Panthers would continue carrying eight defensemen on the roster despite having the option to potentially stash Balinskis in the AHL due to him being on an entry-level contract and waivers exempt.

Additionally, Maurice has said several times in the past that his preference would be to carry 13 forwards and seven defensemen on the roster.

Florida’s top five defensemen – Aaron Ekblad, Gus Forsling, Brandon Montour, Niko Mikkola and Oliver Ekman-Larsson – are locked into the daily roster, and the sixth blueliner, Dmitry Kulikov, has received unsolicited praise from Maurice on multiple occasions for his play this season.

That would leave Mahura, who played in all 82 games for Florida and every playoff game last season, and Balinskis, as the odd men out.

Mahura has proven to be incredibly consistent and capable of executing Maurice's defensive systems. 

Balinskis, meanwhile, has turned plenty of heads over the past few months, looking like a seasoned NHL veteran despite playing in his first season in North America.

In terms of how Maurice and his staff plan to juggle the packed roster of talented rearguards, he gave the impression that they’re just sort of winging it.

“If I had a plan of how I was going to manage the two that are out, I probably wouldn't tell you anyway because those things change,” Maurice said. “There’s a managing the cap factor, there's a performance factor, there's…the guys that are in I value more on the PK side of it right now, they've been good, so (we’ll show) a little patience. I don't like pulling defenseman in and out (of the lineup), but I’ve also got two NHL defenseman sitting out that don't deserve to sit out. We'll consider it a luxury and we'll try to find different ways to maneuver through it.”

Considering the flexibility they have with Balinskis, he may find his way back to Charlotte to log some playing time before long. 

For the time being, Florida will have some of the best defensive depth in the league. 

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