Florida Panthers Prospects: Big week for Samoskevich, Mamin

Mackie Samoskevich and the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines keep on churning through the rest of the college hockey landscape. With two big wins against Cole Krygier and the Michigan State Spartans, Michigan improved to 8-2 this weekend.

Samoskevich struck with a shot from the point on the power play in the Wolverines’ 7-2 win on Friday night. Krygier also added a goal in that same game, as the two Florida Panthers prospects faced off against each other.

Krygier, a defenseman, was a seventh-round pick by Florida in 2018. Samoskevich was the 24th overall pick of the 2021 draft.

On the pro level, Maxim Mamin got his first call-up to the NHL this season, playing in four games with the Panthers.

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He scored his first goal of the season on Monday against the New York Rangers, as a Patric Hornqvist shot deflected off of his skate to give the Panthers life with 40 seconds to go to make it 4-3.

While not finding the scoresheet much, Mamin has looked good at the NHL level, finding the right spots and using his 6-2, 206-pound frame to leverage position.

With Mason Marchment on Injured Reserve, Mamin seems to be able to play the same role he does on the third line with Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell — a sizable player who can skate well and move the puck and get into the right spots.

Back in Charlotte, the Checkers went 1-1-0 this weekend but had an offensive explosion which saw them score 10 goals over the weekend.

Aleksi Heponiemi had points on four of the 10 points, including a three-point night (1G, 2A) in a 7-3 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday.

With the Panthers finding themselves in an injury crunch (Marchment and Joe Thornton are on IR with Sam Bennett returning Tuesday), Heponiemi could be a candidate for a call-up if need be.

He’s a mature defensive player who is smart on both ends of the ice. He makes the right passes and he sees the ice pretty well, being able to leverage himself into the right spots.

After being a healthy scratch for two of the three games the Checkers played last weekend, Max Gildon had a bounce-back weekend, notching two assists in those two games as well.

The Checkers will be back in action this weekend as they head to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to play a two-game set with the Penguins.