Florida Panthers Call Up Mackie Samoskevich From AHL Charlotte

The Florida Panthers called up Mackie Samoskevich from AHL Charlotte ahead of their Tuesday night game with the San Jose Sharks.

Samoskevich played in his first two NHL games to start the 2023-24 season before being sent down to the Checkers last week.

The Panthers had a couple of players miss Tuesday’s morning skate — including Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues and Ryan Lomberg — and are rumored to have some illness within the team.

Florida could not only play Samoskeivch, but defenseman Mike Reilly in a 11-forward, 7-defenseman setup.

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“We had two young guys we liked coming out of training camp and the ‘going down’ part is that we are not going to have either of those two guys watch hockey,” coach Paul Maurice said of Samoskevich and Justin Sourdif, who was sent to AHL Charlotte on Monday.

“We thought the first road trip, we would bring two of them instead of having a veteran player and only bring one. We thought they both deserved to go and unless something was unusual that Samoskevich had two big nights, that I was going to get both in.

“(Samoskevich) goes because he has to play, and neither of those two will play as the 13th forward for any real time.”

The 20-year-old had an assist in two games in his first AHL stint of the year.

Maurice mentioned that there was uncertainty in Florida’s lineup at Tuesday’s morning skate but did not mention what the changes would be.

“Possibly, I don’t know yet,” was what he said when asked if there would be changes.

Maurice has mentioned that there is an illness going around in the locker room, which could impact the team’s lineup on Tuesday.

This is a developing story which will be updated when new information becomes available.

PANTHERS ON DECK

SAN JOSE SHARKS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Tuesday, 7:45 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5 FM-2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932; NHL App
• Last season: Florida won 2-0
  
• This season: Tuesday @ Florida; @ San Jose, Nov. 14
• All-time regular season series: Florida leads 21-13-1, 7 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. Seattle, 6 p.m.