Nottingham Panthers have added Slovakian ‘D’ man Kristian Kudroc to their roster.

The 35-year-old former NHL first-round draft pick has previously iced for Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers, and also has KHL experience on his CV.

Panthers’ boss Corey Neilson said: “We’re excited to have him – we’ve struggled a bit with injuries and we want to inject a bit of speed into our forward unit and we’re hoping to get everyone fresh and healthy again then we can get the Swede (Erik Lindhagen) back up there.

“He’s played at the highest level and has an absolute bomb of a shot which is something we could certainly use on our powerplay.

“I’m not saying that is his primary focus, but we wanted a big, solid defenseman to help out.

“Right now we have tiny mobile guys who are good at what they do, but we also need that dimension back there and we’re hoping he’s going to bring it.”

Panthers have also confirmed Czech forward Petr Kalus has been released by the club.