FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers made two blockbuster moves Sunday, trading forward Mackie Samoskevich to the Seattle Kraken for a first-round pick in this weekend’s draft and a second-round selection next year, then capping the day by acquiring Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, Florida Hockey Now reported.
The Samoskevich deal gives GM Bill Zito a stacked draft hand heading into the 2026 NHL Draft, which begins Friday night at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Florida now holds the No. 9 and No. 25 picks in the first round, plus two second-round picks in each of the next two drafts — eight picks overall across Friday and Saturday.
Samoskevich, 23, spent parts of the past three seasons with the Panthers and won the Stanley Cup with them in 2025. He signed last summer as a restricted free agent for $775,000, a bargain the Panthers could extract because he lacked arbitration rights. This offseason changed the calculus: Samoskevich gained arbitration eligibility and was expected to at least double that salary, according to Florida Hockey Now.
The Panthers entered the offseason a shade over $13 million under the salary cap and still need to resolve their goaltending situation, with Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov both pending free agents when NHL free agency opens July 1. Florida also carried depth at forward, with Evan Rodrigues and rookie Sandis Vilmanis among those who can slot into the lineup without another addition.
The Tkachuk acquisition, announced Sunday evening, was the bigger prize. Florida Hockey Now reported there had been rumblings Samoskevich could be part of a larger deal, though the initial Seattle trade was not the blockbuster observers anticipated. Landing the Senators’ captain hours later clarified Zito’s strategy: convert a cost-controlled but expendable forward into draft capital and cap flexibility, then deploy that flexibility to add an elite talent.
The Panthers’ Development Camp is scheduled for late June or early July at the IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale, with rookie camp and a tournament set for late August or early September. Training camp opens in early to mid-September in Fort Lauderdale ahead of the 2026-27 NHL season, which begins in late September.