With the NHL season underway, Brad Marchand and the Florida Panthers are watching key players drop like flies to injury. Hoping to steady the ship, Paul Maurice and the front office made a move for reinforcements. However, a bureaucratic issue is delaying the process.
After a 3-0 start to the 2025-26 NHL campaign, the tide has seemingly changed in Sunrise. The Panthers are facing crucial hours. The rest of the league can sense Florida is doubting itself amid a sea of injuries, At the moment, no team is afraid to stand up to the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
Something has to change. Marchand knows it. Maurice does, too. Yet even after the front office moved its pieces to claim Donovan Sebrango off waivers, an unexpected hurdle threatens to add even more drama for the Panthers.
“[Sebrango is] going to get his visa worked on right now. He won’t join the team until that happens,” Maurice commented on Sebrango’s situation, per Jameson Olive. “We liked the game that he played against us. With [Kulikov’s] injury, we’re going to want to add some depth to our team.”
Donovan Sebrango when playing for the Ottawa Senators
Depth being put to the test
In addition to the firepower across the lineup, a big reason for Florida’s success and its back-to-back Stanley Cups has been its depth. Simply put, when the Panthers are healthy, not many teams can go head-to-head with them in the NHL. Some may put up a fight, but the past two seasons showed none is able to win four games in a best-of-seven playoff series.
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However, the Cats are not healthy. Quite the opposite, they are under duress. Their unparalleled depth is gone. The Panthers must now find a new identity as they face a long road ahead without their main weapon—not a single player, but the ability for anyone on the roster to step up and play a pivotal role on any given night.
New faces on defense
With Kulikov expected to miss five months, another name has been added to the list of key players out long term. Florida is still acclimating to the injury bug that keeps taking its toll on every area of the ice. With Kulikov out, we take a look at how the defensemen pairings look for the Panthers.
- Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
- Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
- Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry
Tobias Bjornfot is currently serving as an extra, with Sebrango set to join him once his paperwork is finalized and he can travel with the Panthers on their road trip. Once Sebrango is with the team, he will compete for a spot in the lineup, with Balinskis and Petry as the early candidates to be healthy scratched if Maurice decides the Panthers need a change of pace.
