According to a team announcement, the Florida Panthers have reassigned defenseman Alexander Petrovic to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. The roster move suggests Florida will recall an additional forward, as Brad Marchand sustained a lower-body injury on Tuesday.

Petrovic, 34, was originally recalled last week shortly before the Panthers placed captain Aleksander Barkov on long-term injured reserve. Unfortunately, even though Aaron Ekblad is out for personal reasons, Petrovic never appeared in the lineup throughout his recall.

Furthermore, Petrovic’s demotion isn’t related to Florida maximizing its salary cap space for the trade deadline. Because Petrovic must play one AHL game before being eligible for recall, the Panthers cannot recall him until Sunday if they need him. Florida’s next game is on Saturday against the Minnesota Wild, and so is the Charlotte Checkers’.

Still, it likely won’t be the last time Petrovic is recalled this season. He’s arguably Florida’s best injury replacement on the blue line, though one could certainly argue for Tobias Björnfot or Donovan Sebrango. Regardless, Petrovic has the most experience of the trio.

The Edmonton native has played 323 NHL games, scoring seven goals and 60 points, with a -11 rating while averaging 16:09 of ice time per game. Although he hasn’t played with the Panthers organization since the end of the 2010s, most of Petrovic’s career has been with Florida, playing in seven seasons with the Panthers from 2012 to 2019.