"The Panthers moved closer to finalizing their regular-season 23-man roster tonight before the last preseason game in Dallas because several players will go right to Austin to meet up with the San Antonio Rampage, who are visiting the Texas Stars of the AHL.

One move made already was placing goalie Tyler Plante, 24, on waivers with the hope that he clears and is assigned to San Antonio.

"It was a good battle to try to earn that roster spot. At the end of it, it was performance based," Dineen said. "It wasn't potential based for me. We're not here to sell the future. Guys who perform well on ice are going to earn their way into the lineup and that's the way the situation played out.""