The Panthers announced on Friday that defenseman Brent Regner has been recalled from the Portland Pirates. It appears that this is in response to Erik Gudbranson suffering from some sort of lingering issue, per George Richards:
Hearing that #FlaPanthers are expecting 26-year-old Brent Regner to make NHL debut tomorrow v #Pens … Erik Gudbranson doubtful…
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) February 5, 2016
The fact that the Panthers are calling up Regner, and not someone like Mike Matheson, or Jonathan Racine probably means they don’t believe this is a longer term issue. Its probably best for both players to continue playing regularly in Portland if they will not otherwise recieve an extended look at the NHL level.
As for what the Panthers are adding, it sounds like a defenseman similar to Steven Kampfer. The following quote is used to describe Brent Regner over at Elite Prospects:
“Regner is a puck-moving defenseman with good vision and passing ability. Skates very well and excels on the powerplay. His lack of size can be a problem when facing bigger forwards.”
– Erik K. Piri, EP (2015)
Here’s the quote used on Kampfer:
“A skilled offensive-minded defenseman. Skates very well and has a good attitude. Isn’t large, but pretty stocky with a low center of gravity.”
– Erik K. Piri, EP
It’s also worthy to note that, at 26 years old, Regner has not played an NHL game yet. So hopefully a congratulations is in order for the young defenseman, as he makes it to The Show for the first time.
Assuming that Willie Mitchell remains on IR, Regner’s presence means we would have a defense that would feature just one large, physical defenseman in Alex Petrovic, as opposed to the usual three between he, Gudbranson, and Mitchell. It will definitely be a different look for the Panthers. It also likely means more Ekblad and Kulikov on the penalty kill. Keep a look out for that against the Penguins on Saturday night.
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