The Panthers' personnel carousel continued to spin Monday with good news that center Nick Bjugstad was cleared medically to make his season debut Tuesday against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.
The bad news is that an MRI revealed that defenseman Alex Petrovic has a broken ankle from blocking a shot in Thursday's 6-1 loss to the Maple Leafs.
Petrovic, who leads the team with a plus-8 to go with five points and provides the most physical presence of his defensive mates, will be out for approximately two months.
So the Panthers sent forward Jared McCann down to the Springfield (Mass.) Thunderbirds to clear a roster spot for Bjugstad. Petrovic's long-term absence means that Jackub Kindl and Dylan McIlrath will stay up with the big team and battle for the sixth job on the blue line.
McCann, 20, has one goal and three points in 17 games.
