When the Panthers placed Grigori Denisenko on waivers for the purpose of sending him down to the AHL, I had a feeling he wouldn’t make it to Charolette.

That feeling became reality when the Vegas Golden Knights claimed the 23 year-old forward earlier today.

Denisenko was drafted 15th overall by the Panthers 2018. He played 26 games with the Cats over the last three years, where he had seven assists. He notched 36 points in 56 AHL games last season.

While I’m not sure if Florida was expecting to lose him or not, Denisenko has been an “on the bubble” guy for his whole tenure in Sunrise. At times you thought he would crack the big roster, but didn’t manage to do so. He looked good in some of his opportunities, but it felt like it would never “click” here for him — at least that’s what it looked like to me.

Tough to lose a guy that’s so young and looks to have some potential upside, but that’s how it goes with the waiver game..

Per George Richards:

“The Panthers signed Denisenko to a two-year, one-way contract over the offseason and it appeared he was finally going to get a chance to crack the team’s lineup.

But he did not show a whole lot in training camp with coach Paul Maurice saying Friday that Denisenko was not going to be on the initial roster so he was placed on waivers.”

Adding:

“Denisenko will report to the Golden Knights and be placed on their opening roster.”

Interesting that he’ll be thrown right into the mix for Vegas…

Good news for the Panthers is that defenseman Matt Kiersted cleared waivers. I still think this guy will be a piece on the Cats’ blue line sooner, rather than later.

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