Recent first-round pick Mackie Samoskevich eyeing Florida Panthers’ roster spot

CORAL SPRINGS — The University of Michigan has become a breeding ground for top NHL prospects.

The Florida Panthers dipped into that well in 2021 by drafting Mackie Samoskevich with the 24th pick.

Two years later, he remains the Panthers’ most recent first-round pick and one of their most coveted prospects. Now, he’s making his case to fill a Panthers roster spot when training camp arrives.

“I’d love to play down here,” Samoskevich said Monday after the first day of Panthers development camp. “I think that’s the main goal. I don’t think it’s a far-fetched goal. I know I can do it.”

The first day of development camp mostly involved skating drills, so it’s difficult and too soon to interpret who flashed. Plus, Charlotte Checkers coach Geordie Kinnear said the week is mostly viewed by the coaching staff as a developmental period versus an evaluation.

But for returners to development camp, like Samoskevich, the week is an opportunity to not just showcase strides made on the ice, but also off the ice. The prospects are staying at a hotel on the beach and will partake in numerous other activities throughout the week besides the once-a-day hourly skate.

“I think relationships are number one,” Kinnear said. “To get to know everybody, to get to know the kids, you want to establish some foundational habits.”

And to the 20 year old Samoskevich’s credit, he is right. He’s got a viable shot to make the roster.

Samoskevich signed his entry-level contract in May after playing in his first professional games with the Charlotte Checkers on a professional tryout. While he didn’t score in his nine games (seven were in the playoffs), Samoskevich contributed six assists and impressed some of the coaching staff.

“What I like about Mackie is he understands his honest evaluation of the play,” Kinnear said. “So when he didn’t have a good game, I’d call him in my office and I said, ‘What do you think of your game?’ I wouldn’t tell him what I thought, and he said it wasn’t very good.”

His pro debut came after two seasons at Michigan where he was one of the team’s top players each season. It included back-to-back Big Ten Tournament championships and two trips to the Frozen Four.

Samoskevich said it was a difficult decision for him to leave Michigan.

“I think as hard as it was, I think coming here is even better,” Samoskevich said. “The progress here that I can make with the coaching staff and other players that are here is just top-notch, so I think it’s something I had to do for sure.”

As a freshman, Samoskevich was eighth on the team with 29 points in 40 games. Then last year, he was third on the team with 43 points (20 goals, 23 assists).

The only two players he trailed were Adam Fantilli — the Hobey Baker Award winner and Columbus Blue Jackets No. 3 pick — and Luke Hughes, the New Jersey Devils’ fourth pick in the 2021 NHL draft.

And Fantilli and Hughes are just a sliver of the high-end talent Samoskevich played with at Michigan. The Wolverines’ line chart was littered with NHL team logos two years ago and was again this past season. The list of NHL-drafted players on those teams goes on and on.

Samoskevich said he’s particularly close with Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power (drafted first overall in 2021) and Seattle Kraken forward Matty Beniers, who was taken one pick after Power and won the Calder Trophy this year. Power and Samoskevich are planning to skate together later in the summer, while Beniers and Samoskevich have known each other since a young age.

“I think going against them every day in practice makes you better,” Samoskevich said. “The Luke Hughes’ and Erik Portillo’s (No. 67 pick by the Sabres in 2019), it makes you better every day. I think they’ve helped me out so much and I don’t think they know it. But they meant a lot to me last year, and obviously the coaching staff there is top notch too.”

Samoskevich and the Wolverines won a lot of games in the past two years, and if you ask his teammates, they may attribute it to a goofy Pikachu hat instead of the team’s exuberant skill. He doesn’t necessarily believe in it, but played along with the pre-game superstition.

But, he’s now adjusting from being a student-athlete to treating hockey like a full-time job. That meant ditching the Pikachu hat for good.

“No, I got rid of it,” he said. “I burned that thing.”

Game Faces ON #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/mffMFBgwcv

— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) March 24, 2023