Sunrise, Fla. – Bill Zett, president and general manager of Florida Panthers Hockey Operations, announced today that the club has agreed to sign forward Mackie Samoskevich on a one-year contract.
“McKee is a talented young forward who demonstrated his skill and maturity well beyond his age in his first full NHL season,” Zito said. “He has shown his ability to drill holes in our lineup and find success in this past season. This is evidence of both his play and his character. We look forward to seeing him compete in our organization for years to come.”
The 22-year-old Samoskevich produced 31 points (15-16-31) in his first NHL season in Florida in 2024-25, skating in 72 games. His 15 goals placed most in the club’s history by the Panthers rookie, fourth in the US-born rookie in 2024-25, and his 31 points finished fifth in that category, tied Jonathan Huberdo with eight points in the history of the franchise. Five of his 15 goals were the winners of the game, matching Carter Werhege for the team lead. In the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, Samoskevich assisted in his game 1 playoff debut against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and skated in four postseason total contests to help the Cats secure their second consecutive championship.
The 5-foot-11, 180-pound forward played 79 regular-season games against the Panthers from 2023-24 to 2024-25, as well as 64 American Hockey League matches against Florida AHL affiliate 2022-23-2023-24 Amassing 56 (22-34-56). In his first full-pro season with Checker from 2023-24, he led the team with 22 goals and 54 points (22-32-54) in 62 games.
The Newtown, Connecticut native appeared in a total of 79 games against the University of Michigan over two seasons (2021-22-2022-23), accumulating 72 points (30-42-72). In his first season with Wolverine, he was selected for the Big Ten All Freshman team after producing 29 points (10-19-29) over a total of 40 games. He was also named to the Big Ten All Tournament Team after posting four points (3-1-4) in four tournament games to help capture the first Big Ten title since 2016.
Before his college career, Samoskevich appeared in 85 US Hockey League (USHL) games in parts of three seasons (2018-19 to 2020-21) with the Chicago Steel, scoring 73 points (26-47-73). In his final USHL season, he produced 10 points (1-9-10) in eight postseason matches, helping Steele win the Clark Cup Championship.
Selected by Florida in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft (24th overall), Samoskevich represented the United States in the 2022 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship and the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
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