Florida Panthers have acquired Alexei Zhitnik from Buffalo Sabres for Phoenix 1rst round draft pick in 2005 and cash.
Panthers have been looking to add an dman comparable to Zhitnik. It was impossible to find as the asking price around the league for similar dman was too high and Zhitnik was untouchable in Buffalo. All that changed when Buffalo decided to start getting into a better financial position and Panthers GM said "Once they had a new game plan Jason contacted me right away as he knew I was interested in getting Zhitnik. It took us about 5 minutes to get an deal done"
Alexei Zhitnik is an very underrated two-way defense. He's a big hitter and wont give you an inch on the ice free. He's also has an good 1rst out pass and very sound defensivly. Zhitnik solifies Panthers defensive side. Look for him to get ice time on the top pairing with Paul Mara.