Bill Zito and the Florida Panthers started Sunday morning off with a bang. The Panthers moved their young forward Mackie Samoskevich to the Seattle Kraken for 25th overall in the 2026 draft and a conditional 2nd-round pick in 2027. He was a restricted free agent this year and could have potentially been an offer-sheet candidate. If Mackie's contract was in the range of $4.68 million, the compensation for the offer sheet would have been a 1st and 3rd. Mackie Samoskevich finished last year with 12 goals, 20 assists and 32 points. Mackie struggled to find the back of the net this year but did create good scoring chances. He finished with a 53.4 xGF%, meaning he does have the ability to drive play. Mackie was going to be tricky to fit into the Florida Panthers' top 9 with the likes of Sandis Vilmanis and Jack Devine both showing great promise with the Panthers and Checkers this year.
Most in the hockey world expected that Florida was trying to stockpile picks to go after a much-needed part of their team: a goaltender. One specifically in Winnipeg, Connor Hellebuyck. Florida has zero goaltenders signed on their active roster. Many reporters linked Hellebuyck to Florida, citing the USA Olympic gold-medal team as a connection to Matthew Tkachuk. There was a stronger connection to Matthew that seemed to catch the hockey world sleeping. Bill Zito sent the 9th overall, 25th overall in 2026, a 2029 first-round pick (top-10 protected) and a 2030 2nd-round pick to the Ottawa Senators for Brady Tkachuk. Zito flipped the 25th pick from the Samoskevich trade into the final piece to bring the Tkachuk brothers together. The Florida Panthers have pushed the chips all in again. The Ottawa Senators now have the draft capital to offer sheet a strong RFA class, but also the tools to add NHL players to their roster, as they should still be pushing for the playoffs with a strong young core. So what does this mean for Ottawa and Florida?
For Florida
For Florida, they add an elite winger into an already deep forward group. Mackie would have struggled for ice time here, but Brady Tkachuk will not have that problem. There is speculation that you will see a B. Tkachuk - Bennett - M. Tkachuk line, but I think Brady might be better poised to play with Barkov and Reinhart. This would leave the Verhaeghe - Bennett - M. Tkachuk line together, a trio with chemistry that has already won 2 Stanley Cups. Barkov and Reinhart have proven they can play with any winger on the left side, as we saw Evan Rodrigues and Carter Verhaeghe have great success during those two Cup runs. This also keeps more speed on the second line, and today's game needs to be played at pace.
Florida's outlook in goal is now a bigger question. Brady comes over with an $8.2 million cap hit. Before the trade, Florida only had $15.28 million in cap space. This leaves Florida with $7.07 million to find two goaltenders and possibly more depth pieces on the 4th line.
One internal name worth watching is Cooper Black. The 6-foot-8 undrafted goaltender out of Dartmouth has quietly put together a strong two-year run with the Checkers, posting a 2.34 GAA and a .907 save percentage across 62 games (37 W, 19 L, 6 OTL). At a cap hit under $1 million on a two-way deal, Black gives Florida a cheap option if they want to bet on size and internal development instead of chasing a pricey free agent. He is far from a proven NHL answer, but for a team with around $7 million to find two goalies in a thin market, a 6-foot-8 wall on entry-level money is exactly the kind of swing a cap-strapped contender can afford to take.
Here is where things get a little more interesting for Florida. Sandis Vilmanis just finished with a great showing at the IIHF Worlds for Latvia: 8 GP, 4G-7A-11P. Sandis split his time between the Panthers and Checkers. NHL stats: 19 GP, 3G-2A-5P. AHL stats: 48 GP, 17G-21A-38P. These performances allowed Florida to move on from Mackie and find a good replacement on the 4th line. Jack Devine is also in the mix for the RW spot, as he finished a strong season with the Checkers at 63 GP, 18G-25A-43P. Both players carry a smaller cap hit, under $1 million per year. This could be the future of the 4th line, allowing Florida to keep Evan Rodrigues to centre their young future. Florida also has Jesper Boqvist, Jonah Gadjovich and Cole Reinhardt to fill holes if needed.
If this is the case, Florida has around $5 million to find 2 goalies in a market that is not very strong. Their own goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky, is the top talent available, but they might not have the cap room to get that done without trading established vets like Rodrigues or Boqvist. I say "might" because I counted Zito out when it came to signing Bennett, Ekblad and Marchand, but Zito and the front office found a way.
For Ottawa
For Ottawa, it is a bit of a different story. They are losing their captain and elite power forward off the top line. Brady took heat during a lackluster playoff run that saw the Senators get swept by the champion Carolina Hurricanes. Brady went 0G-0A in those 4 games and failed to establish his game down low. Ottawa is still trending up. They have good talent up front such as Tim Stützle (80 GP, 34G-49A-83P), Dylan Cozens (82 GP, 28G-31A-59P) and Drake Batherson (79 GP, 33G-38A-71P). Their backend is very strong with Jake Sanderson (67 GP, 14G-40A-54P) and Thomas Chabot (57 GP, 7G-24A-31P) leading the charge. They also have Carter Yakemchuk and Jordan Spence as young pieces coming up. Spence, a restricted free agent, had some rumors going around that he was getting shopped, but I would love to see the Senators hold on and see how he develops. Spence finished with 73 GP, 7G-24A-31P this year and seemed to find a place on the blueline with the Sens.
Ottawa also received 3 first-round picks and a 2nd-round pick. They will have 3 first-round picks in this year's draft. They cannot move the 32nd overall, but that doesn't mean 9th and 25th are not in play. I was expecting Ottawa to get an NHL-ready player back in the Brady Tkachuk trade, but having 3 first-round picks this year might be enough to sign-and-trade an RFA. Teams such as Dallas and Vegas have very little room to offer their star restricted free agents, Jason Robertson and Pavel Dorofeyev. If those teams do not move off their star RFA, they might be willing to offload other stars on the roster. The return without an NHL player has raised questions, but it does give Ottawa a lot of options. They also get a return for a player who might have been unwilling to sign an extension 2 years down the line and would walk out the door for nothing.
The Big Picture
Florida immediately gets better and stronger. They are looking to bounce back as a contender and have all the stars to do it. The Atlantic is getting stronger each year: Buffalo, Montreal, Tampa Bay, and now Toronto with 1st overall and Darren Raddysh. If Florida can make it back to the Stanley Cup Final and win, that would be 3 Cups in 4 years and 4 appearances in 5 years. At what point does that become a dynasty? It is a fair question to ask, even if it is a big IF built on a mortgaged future.
Ottawa is making the opposite bet. They turned their captain into a stockpile of first-round picks and the flexibility to build around the Sanderson and Stützle window. One team is pushing all its chips to the centre of the table; the other is loading up for what comes next. There is still more movement coming with the draft 4 days away. It is a great time to be a hockey fan!
Brady Tkachuk by the Numbers
Age 26 · $8.21M cap hit through 2028 (NMC) · HighDanger PAV 11.01 · 2026-27 HighDanger projection: 37G-43A-80P
