Draft Profiles 2k21: Mackie Samoskevich has a lot of the work done already, and that’s a huge boon for him.

Analysis:

For some unexplainable reason, it seems like every US player in the draft this year is somewhat destined to have just the best names. This dude started life as Matthew and has showed up to this profile as Mackie. That’s just awesome. That’s my non-profile thing this week. Good draft names this year.

And why not? Because the Chicago Steel both have a pedigree of success at getting NHLers to the show, and for getting absolutely incredible names on their roster. Mackie included, as he was an absolute dynamo for them.

Against his peers, Samoskevich’s acceleration stands out as very NHL Caliber, and his ability to separate himself from defenders is very, very attractive to scouts, as well as his very strong offensive instincts. In fact, it could be argued that the single biggest plus to Mackie’s game as of right now is his creativity with the puck in the offensive zone. He is a great stick-handler, but he’s especially a great stick-handler in front of a backchecking defender, as he has a million little tricks he can pull to turnstile much bigger, scarier men than he. And with a good eye for where his teammates are and are going to be, he was able to make some very pretty goals.

His biggest weaknesses right now? Honestly, it’s just packing pounds on him. Even at 180, he’s pretty easy to move to the outside, even if he gets a step or so on the defender. His core strength is kinda low, and given all that speed and skill, it’s a damn shame he really can’t get that push across the goal mouth to make himself an even more dangerous offensive threat. As a result of that strength and weight issue, he’s not exactly lighting the world on fire with his defensive effort, able to get in the way and attack the puck carrier, but he’s not being asked to be a major contributor on the back-end and his strength issues mean that if given the wrong opportunity, he can be very easily shrugged off. Finally, Samoskevich lost valuable time to injury this year. It didn’t really affect his play, but it also meant he couldn’t have stood out even further from the pack. It’s tragic, but it is what it is.

He has committed recently to the University of Michigan, giving him the vital opportunity to put some muscle on that will absolutely come with the NCAA’s more weekend-centric schedule. He might even come up with an opportunity to make some bank on the nickname of Mackie! Drafting him means accepting that he will likely see your first real development camp around 2023, as he needs time in college to properly bulk up and prove that injury wasn’t enough to slow him down over a full season.

Samoskevich is a player that has quite a bit of promise, and that’s saying something seeing that three of his Steel brethren could also share his draft round; most agree that a late first round selection definitely seems right for him, but some could see him going in the late teens. Personally, I think any forward with acceleration like that is worth taking a chance on, but I also would not be surprised in the least if he ended up getting picked beforehand.

Still, he’s got a real interesting toolset, and I think if given the chance? I think the B’s could do well with a guy like him.

Rankings:

19th by EliteProspects.com

26th by FC Hockey

31st by TSN (Bob McKenzie’s list)

24th by McKeen’s Hockey

26th by NHL Central Scouting among North American Skaters

39th by Recruit Scouting

45th by DobberProspects

Ranked #21 by Smaht Scouting