NHL Trade Grades: Mackie Samoskevich Dealt to Kraken For Picks From Panthers

Sometimes a trade is just a trade. What you see is what you get. 

In other instances, it portends other, potentially bigger action. The Florida Panthers, a team that very much intends to resume its contention window, get worse by trading winger Mackie Samoskevich. It's not particularly bold to anticipate this as the preamble to something else on the horizon.

Seattle needs to completely change the team's makeup. They need to get either younger or better. Being caught in no man's land hasn't helped them since their entrance into the NHL. Is Samoskevich enough to affect the trajectory?

Let's dig into what this trade means for both the Florida Panthers and Seattle Kraken.

Florida Panthers

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Panthers GM Bill Zito

Mackie Samoskevich, a former first-round pick, was a productive member of the Panthers in third-line and PP2 minutes. The Panthers aren't moving him because of disappointment in his game, but rather as a pragmatic response to financial limitations.

They enter the offseason with $15 million in cap space but need to add two goaltenders as well as some other players to fill out the lineup. The problems will increase next season when third-liners Eetu Luostarinen and Evan Rodrigues become UFAs and either need raises or to be replaced.

Samoskevich, a restricted free agent, is projected to receive a four-year contract worth $4.7 million per season, according to Evolving Hockey. With financial constraints, the need for trade assets, and a ceiling on how much higher up the Panthers' depth chart Samoskevich could have climbed, GM Bill Zito is choosing to cash in on his value now.

The 25th-overall selection, who has a good chance of becoming a fairly high second-round pick, is good value for a middle-six winger. The big question now is what the Panthers do with their added draft capital.

They're surely going for another Cup now that Sasha Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk are healthy, and they need a staunch starting goaltender. Could these pieces be sent to Winnipeg in the next few weeks for a certain American netminder?

Grade: A-

Seattle Kraken

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Samoskevich's numbers aren't very impressive — a peak of 15 goals and 32 points over the last couple of seasons won't get anyone's attention — but there are some important qualifiers. First, Samoskevich underperformed his expected goal totals, and dramatically at that. He should have been a 20-goal scorer last season based on the types of shots he was generating.

He also spent a lot of ice time in a role that doesn't complement his game well. A.J. Greer and Jesper Boqvist are NHL-caliber players, but they belong on a depth checking line.

In comparison, Samoskevich is an extremely skilled offensive winger. He thrives with a lot of touches on the puck and similarly skilled linemates who can build passing sequences with him. The crash-and-bang style that Florida likes out of its third-line forwards isn't a great fit for what Samoskevich is built for. 

He'll get more opportunities up the lineup in Seattle, and combined with some shooting regression, it's easy to imagine him as a 45- 50-point winger for the next handful of seasons. In terms of pure value, Seattle does fine here. A late first-round pick and a second-round pick for a young player who can be in the fold as the team takes some time to reset makes sense.

The problem is that Seattle, since it joined the NHL, has acquired almost exclusively middle-six, 40-50 point winger types. They have less draft capital from which to pull in order to acquire some badly needed top-of-the-lineup forwards.

The trade deserves a decent grade because, in terms of valuation, it makes sense for a player of Samoskevich's caliber. But they really cannot afford to invest any more capital in the supporting cast. Right now, the organization looks more or less the same, even with this move.

Grade: B