The Florida Panthers are off to a fantastic start to their championship defense season. They are currently 3-0-0 heading into their first road trip, beginning on Monday against the Philadelphia Flyers. They look to replicate Denis Potvin and the early 1980s New York Islanders and win three straight Stanley Cups, establishing themselves as a hockey dynasty.
In the team’s 2-1 victory over the Flyers on Thursday night, defenseman Dmitry Kulikov suffered an upper-body injury that forced him to leave the game. As a result, he is being placed on injured reserve (IR) and cannot play for at least a week, with a potential need for surgery. With that in mind, defenseman Uvis Balinskis is being given another shot as he made his season debut Saturday. He finished with a plus-1 rating. He has to make the best of his time, or this could be the last time fans see him donning a Panthers uniform.
Balinskis Did Not Have a Good Regular Season in 2024-25
Balinskis struggled last season as the team missed Aaron Ekblad for a significant portion of the season due to a suspension he received for violating the NHLPA’s drug policy.
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In 76 games dressed, he scored four goals and was credited with 14 assists with a minus-7 rating. He also tallied four power-play assists. This comes a season after he played 37 games with the Charlotte Checkers, putting up three goals and 18 assists and a plus-4 rating.
Panthers Decided to Get a Veteran in Jeff Petry, Showing a Lack of Confidence
This past offseason, the Panthers went out and signed former Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry to a one-year deal. This gave the team another veteran option at defense.
The other side of this is that the coaching staff may have lost its confidence in Balinskis. If that is the case, this is his one chance to get it back.
Balinskis Had a Decent Postseason
In the team’s recent Stanley Cup run, Balinskis actually put up some decent numbers. In his first five career playoff games, he scored a goal and finished with a plus-4 rating.
This can be used as motivation to do better in his next go-around. With how competitive the team has been the last three years, he can get another shot if he does well in this stretch.
Balinskis Was Selected to Represent His Home Country in the Olympics
Earlier this year, Balinskis was given a huge honor to represent his home country of Latvia in the upcoming Olympic Winter Games this February. This is the second time he’ll be a member of the Latvian National team with his first appearance coming in 2022. That year, he tallied three assists through four games.
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This shows how much of an upside he has. If his home country can trust him on their roster, why can’t the coaching staff?
Can Balinskis Permanently Claim a Roster Spot, or Is This the Beginning of the End?
This is going to be Balinskis’ one last shot to try and cement himself on the Panthers roster. In his time with Florida, he’s shown flashes of being a starting defenseman.
But with Balinskis being a healthy scratch to start the season, he has to make the most of what he has in front of him now. Opportunity knocks only once, and he needs to kick open that door and show the hockey world what he is capable of.
