OTTAWA – The Florida Panthers recalled defensemen Marek Alscher and Ludvig Jansson from the AHL on Thursday.
Both players will make their NHL debut tonight in Ottawa.
“We’ve got a young backend there,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “We’ve got old man Forsling and the kids.”
With Aaron Ekblad (finger), Niko Mikola (lower body) and Uvis Balinskis (foot) already sidelined, the Panthers lost two more pieces of their battered blue line when Dmitry Kulikov (finger) and Seth Jones (foot) were both injured during Thursday’s shootout loss at Montreal.
“It’s just unbelievable what these guys have been through,” Maurice said.
A third-round pick (93rd overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft, Alscher has produced 11 points (3G, 8A) in 51 games during his second season with the Charlotte Checkers.
Selected just after Alscher in the fourth round (125th overall) in 2022, Jansson has logged 10 points (3G, 7A) in 29 games during his first season in the AHL.
“This has been a childhood dream,” Jansson said. “I think I’ve been every one of these guys on video games. It’s just a surreal feeling being here. I’m super excited.”
Heating up prior to his call-up, Jansson has cracked the scoresheet in four of his last five games with Charlotte, posting two goals and two assists.
In the penultimate game of their final road trip of the season, the Panthers will clash with the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre tonight at 7 p.m. ET.
