Niko Mikkola, Uvis Balinskis Out For Season

Niko Mikkola‘s and Uvis Balinskis‘ seasons are over. The Panthers defenders are both out four to six weeks with a knee injury and an undisclosed fracture, respectively, head coach Paul Maurice told Jameson Olive of NHL.com. Both will be ready for training camp in the fall.

Mikkola, 29, entered the season at a high point in his career. The 6’6″, 204-lb shutdown lefty excelled in a top-four role for the Cats with a career-high 22 points and +12 rating en route to their second straight Stanley Cup. He cashed in as a result, landing an eight-year, $40MM extension late in training camp that kicks in starting next season. He finishes his 2025-26 campaign with a 3-8–11 scoring line in 68 games with a -1 rating, averaging 20:21 of ice time per game.

It wasn’t a huge dropoff by any means, but this was clearly Mikkola’s worst season out of his three in Florida. His 1.71 hits per game were his lowest since his rookie season with the Blues, and his 51.8% Corsi For percentage and 50.9% expected goals for percentage at 5-on-5 were good, but still his worst possession outputs as a Panther. He was without his usual partner, Seth Jones, for over two months due to an upper-body injury, which played a significant role in that dropoff. Jones’ injury forced Balinskis to step into a top-four role for much of the last several weeks, and those results were disastrous: just a 41.1 xGF% and a team-worst 3.16 xGA/60, per MoneyPuck.

Balinskis, 29, has been fine in a more sheltered third-pairing role on his natural left side but hasn’t been able to handle elevated minutes, especially when forced onto his off side. The 6’0″ Latvian averaged a career-high 16:22 ice time per game across 54 contests, contributing a 5-10–15 scoring line, but had a career-worst -13 rating while seeing a dropoff in his shot attempt creation from 2.61 per game last season to 2.43. He has the worst possession numbers on Florida’s blue line across the board (min. 100 minutes at 5-on-5) with a 50.7 CF%, 46.7 xGF%, and 50.2% scoring chances for percentage, per Natural Stat Trick.

With Florida out of playoff contention, the absences will only serve for depth names – namely, the recently recalled Michael Benning – to get more consistent reps down the stretch. Jones returned to the lineup a few games ago, so Florida’s defense isn’t in complete disarray, but they’re now down to six healthy names on the active roster and will likely recall a name from AHL Charlotte before tomorrow’s game against the Kraken for insurance.