The Florida Panthers have announced that they’ve acquired defenceman T.J. Brennan from the Buffalo Sabres for a fifth round pick.  Brennan was drafted in the second round by Buffalo in the 2007 draft, has appeared in 10 games so far with the Sabres this season with one goal that was scored on the power play.  Brennan is a left handed shot, and is listed as 6′-1″ and 214 lbs.  There’s an offensive upside to Brennan as he has had success scoring goals in the AHL with Rochester and Portland in the AHL, as well as during his time in juniors with St. John’s.  Brennan will be no stranger to head coach Kevin Dineen.  Dineen coached Brennan for two seasons at Portland and is obviously familiar with what the young defenceman can do.

The trade likely means that Colby Robak, or Nolan Yonkman goes back to San Antonio as Brennan brings a bit more NHL experience and readiness to the depleted Panthers blue line.  With Mike Weaver, Dmitry Kulikov out for an extended period of time, and even with the potential return of Ed Jovanovski as early as Saturday against the New York Islanders, this is a move that makes sense at very little cost.

Here is the official announcement from the Panthers website.