Sunrise, FL – It was a busy day on Tuesday, June 21st, for Florida Panthers General Manager Bill Zito. After being under Zito for a while, we now know that he likes to invest in current talent rather than future talent. We’ve seen that, getting many players under Zito’s management, such as Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Brad Marchand, and the list goes on. You can add Brady Tkachuk to the list of Florida Panthers Bill Zito has acquired, as the Panthers made two big trades.
We’ll start with the first trade of the day. The Panthers sent Forward Mackie Samoskevich to the Seattle Kraken in return for a 2026 1st-round pick (25th overall), and a 2027 conditional 2nd-round pick.
The conditions of the 2027 2nd-round pick will be the higher selection of the Winnipeg Jets or Columbus Blue Jackets 2nd-round picks.
Samoskevich, 23 years old, was drafted 24th overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. In 156 games played for the Panthers, he put up 27-36-63. He also finished 11th in Calder voting in the 2024-25 season and won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers that year.
As said earlier, knowing Bill Zito you could probably guess that he wasn’t planning on using those picks in the draft but instead would trade them away for a player. Dylan Larkin who just requested a trade from the Detroit Red Wings and listed the Panthers as one of his teams was probably the number one contender that everyone would have predicted, but no one predicted the next move would come this soon.
Just a few hours later in the day, the Panthers acquired Forward Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators for two 2026 1st-round picks (9th overall from this year’s lottery draft, and 25th overall acquired from the Samoskevich trade), a 2027 2nd-round pick, and a 2029 1st-round pick that is top-10 protected.
What an INSANE 24 hours and year for the Tkachuk family…
-Brady traded to Florida on Fathers Day to team up with Matthew
-Keith named to Hockey Hall of Fameand back in February, Brady and Matthew won Olympic gold 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Okt7eqZS6x
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 22, 2026
“A proven leader and exactly the type of player we want in our locker room, he strives to make everyone around him better both on and off the ice. We’re thrilled to welcome Brady to South Florida to join our group as we continue our pursuit of championship hockey.” Bill Zito said in a new release.
Brady and Matthew played together on Team USA for both the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament and the Olympics when they won gold, and now they’re on the same team. A potential line that is being talked about would be B. Tkachuk – S. Bennett – M. Tkachuk.
On paper, it sounds perfect. Matthew and Sam have had chemistry since they were together on the Calgary Flames, Matthew and Brady have brotherhood chemistry, and all three are the some of the most physical players in the league. That line alone can give other teams migraines when planning to face the Panthers.
So now the question is what is next for the Panthers? We know this will most likely not be Zito’s last move of the offseason. Goal-tending was an issue last year as Sergei Bobrovsky is aging.
“I’ve heard it’s unlikely that Sergei Bobrvosky is going to be back [on the Panthers].” Elliotte Friedman recently released.
What the Panthers’ front office decides to do next to improve this team is another story, but it is something to keep an eye on. As for now, the addition of Brady Tkachuk on this roster will be massive next season.
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