25 Brady Keeper D

The Panthers assigned Keeper to AHL Syracuse on Saturday.

Keeper has yet to appear in a game with the Panthers this season, so this move doesn't come as a surprise. He'll head to the minors for now, but it wouldn't be surprising to see Keeper back with the taxi squad sometime soon.

Keeper penned a one-year, two-way contract with Florida on Monday.

Keeper failed to get into an NHL game this season, instead spending the entire campaign with AHL Springfield. With the Thunderbirds, the 24-year-old defenseman recorded six goals and 12 helpers in 61 outings. If Mark Pysyk is allowed to walk in free agency, it could open the door for Keeper to get more opportunities with the big club.

Keeper was sent down to AHL Springfield on Tuesday.

The fact that Keeper was reassigned this early into training camp doesn't bode well for his chances of earning NHL ice time in 2019-20. The blueliner made his debut for the Panthers last year, but logged a mere 12:40 of ice time. It will now be a battle between Josh Brown and Ian McCoshen for a spot on the 23-man roster with Keeper out of the mix.