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KRAKEN THIS MORNING: Return of the Mack(ie) (10/17) · Seattle Kraken Audio Network

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Kraken This Morning, a presentation of the Kraken
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Audio Network and Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM. Here's Mike Benton.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Final game of the trip could be as tough as
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: the previous one as the Kraken take on the Florida Panthers.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Mike Benton with you for Kraken This Morning on a Saturday,
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: October 17th. A bit earlier here for Puck Drop today,
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Mackie Samaskevich's return to Ameribank Arena.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: Going down at 3 p.m.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Pacific time, Everett Fitzhugh, Al Koniski on site for the
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: call in Sunrise.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: I'll join you.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Airtime coverage, 2.30 for your pregame show, served up by
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: Frostbrood Coors Light.
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: Choose chill from Network Central. Hope that you can certainly
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: join us.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: We'll hear in a little bit from Mackie Samuskevich, meeting
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: with the media earlier on Friday after practice, plus a
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: conversation we had with Doug Pleggins, Panthers Radio play-by-play voice,
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: on a full chat that you heard on Kraken Weekly.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: By the way, all of that podcasted via the Kraken
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Audio Network and the iHeartRadio app. We'll dive into the
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: stories behind the Panthers looking to get back into the
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: postseason after missing last year following back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: Doug Pleggins, that conversation coming up in a bit. The
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Kraken fell 4-3 in overtime at Tampa Bay Thursday on
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: a game-winning goal in overtime and a highlight reel won
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: as well for good measure by Victor Hedman. Despite the
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Kraken showing plenty of fight back in period three, including
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: a game tying goal by Matty Beneers with 419 to
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: play in regulation. The Kraken don't get a point without
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: him and certainly don't get a point without goaltender Philip Grubauer,
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: who again looked phenomenal in a 31 save effort and
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: stopping an array. of high danger chances against a loaded
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Tampa Bay squad. Besides Beniers, Ryan Winterton and Jared McCann
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: also put in goals on the Kraken side, while the
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: penalty kill held Tampa Bay's power play to an 0-3 clip.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: The Kraken are managing some uncertainty in their lineup. Brandon
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: Montour left the game with a lower body ailment midway.
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: We'll keep an eye on his status.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: In the meantime, the Kraken calling up a potential reinforcement
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: in defenseman Ty Nelson From AHL Coachella Valley, the right
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: shot defenseman's got four points, all on assists in five games.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Should he play, it would mean he'll make his NHL debut.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: Whether that happens or Brandon Montour faces his former team,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: the Kraken will be lining up a team that still
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: has plenty of firepower from their back-to-back Stanley Cup championship squads.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: That starts at the top. with head coach Paul Maurice. However,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: the Panthers are already nursing the injury bug out of
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: the gate. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom, defenseman Radko Gudis out right
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: now with injuries. Outside shot, Gudis reportedly could play in
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: today's game, but projections say they could be out until
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: next Tuesday. Brad Marchand is on injury reserve. Jonah Gajewicz
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: right now on long-term IR with an upper body ailment
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: and the big one and a tough break for him
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: as well. Alexander Barkov, who has just played two games
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: since two years ago, is out for a projected six
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: to eight weeks with a lower body ailment he sustained yesterday.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: October 1st against the San Jose Sharks.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: So that top line for the Panthers will get plenty
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: of attention, beginning with the brothers, Kachuk, newcomer Brady on
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: the left wing, Matthew on the right wing, and Sam
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Bennett in the middle.
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: Brady went off.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Previous game against the Vancouver Canucks has Florida rebounded from
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: a 2-0 deficit. Brady Kachuk scoring a natural hat trick.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: He tied the game with 13 seconds left in regulation.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: And then.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Put on the finishing touches at 2.23 of sudden death overtime.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: He now leads the Panthers with six goals in just
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: eight games. You could say that Brady Kachuk and Mackie
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: Samuskevich are star-crossed players via the transaction wire. On June 21st,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: the Kraken got a guy that reportedly they had their
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: eye on for a while, and that was Samuskevich, picked
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: up in a trade from Florida in exchange for the
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: 25th overall pick in that year's NHL Entry Draft and
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: a conditional second-rounder in this next year's draft.
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: It was not a standalone trade.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Hours later, that 25th overall pick the Kraken sent to
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: Florida flipped to Ottawa as part of a blockbuster deal
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: where the Panthers picked up Brady Kachuk, packaging the ninth
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: overall pick owned by Florida for the 2026 draft. The
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Kraken pick a 25th overall, a top 10 protected first
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: round pick, in 2029, and for good measure, a second
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: rounder in this next year's NHL entry draft. All of
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: that in a bundle to the Senators delivering Brady Kachuk
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: to Florida to play with brother Matthew. So you have
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: Brady Kachuk fresh out of the mop balls here for
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: the Panthers, while Mackie Samuskiewicz returns to face his former team,
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: for the first time since the trade. How much has
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Mackie Samaskevich been looking forward to this date? Before Doug
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: Pleggins joins us, here's Samaskevich meeting with the media Friday
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: after practice.
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: Mackie, what's it like being back here after you spent,
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: you know, your pro years in this facility?
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it feels good. A lot of great memories. A
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: lot of great relationships. You know, definitely feels good to
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: be back here. Obviously, weather's pretty nice too, so... but
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: definitely different being on this side, but glad I'm back.
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: What's different about being on this side, and what have
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: you been able, do you think, to bring to your
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: new team as far as what you learned here?
• 5:40
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think one of the things you learn here
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: is how to play winning hockey. It's not easy. The
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: game they play is very hard, and that's what I'm
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: trying to bring here, a very physical game that works
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: come April. Yeah, just trying to bring that, you know,
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: as much as I learned here, just trying to bring
• 6:00
  Speaker 5: all of it.
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: As far as you being here now, I mean, your
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: minutes haven't gone up all that much. I think you're
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: playing about a minute more per game, but they're probably
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: different kinds of minutes than what you were getting here.
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: And what's that experience been like, and what does that
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: look like?
• 6:11
  Speaker 5: I thought it's been good so far. I think the
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: minutes will come as my game evolves. I think it's
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: getting better and better, so I'm excited about, you know,
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: what's to come and just trying to help this team
• 6:23
  Speaker 5: win anytime I can.
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: How about your chemistry with your linemates? How's that been evolving?
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: We haven't asked you that in about a week and
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: a half.
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: It's been great. I felt like we started off pretty good.
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: I think it's only getting better. I mean, we're pretty
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: good friends off the ice too, so that helps a
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: lot with communication on the ice and stuff like that.
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: So it's definitely gotten a lot better.
• 6:44
  Speaker 6: It can be hard to adjust to a new team.
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: Do you feel like you're fully ingrained in Seattle, adjusted
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: to your new teammates?
• 6:50
  Speaker 6: Yeah, for sure.
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: I got here extra early to kind of help with that,
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: and obviously living with Maddie and Burke, that helps a lot,
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: you know, fitting in with guys and meeting new guys
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: and stuff like that. In terms of Seattle, I mean,
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: he's been a great help of showing me around and
• 7:07
  Speaker 5: stuff like that, so I've loved it so far.
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: What are some of the things you'd like to see
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: evolve beyond where they're at now with your line?
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: Um.
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: I think we could be better off with a four check.
• 7:17
  Speaker 5: I think we were doing that really well in Philly,
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: getting pucks back. It's something I learned how to do here.
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: I think we could do a better job of that
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: and staying consistent with that. I think the rush stuff
• 7:31
  Speaker 5: will come once we back them off with a four check.
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: Just building that.
• 7:36
  Speaker 6: The results on this road trip have been pretty good
• 7:37
  Speaker 6: for you guys, 3-0-1. What's it going to take for
• 7:40
  Speaker 6: you and this team to close out on a high
• 7:43
  Speaker 6: note tomorrow night, but also What have you liked about
• 7:45
  Speaker 6: the way this team has played?
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: Where do you want to.
• 7:47
  Speaker 6: See this team improve from these first four games in
• 7:49
  Speaker 6: the road trip?
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: I love how simple we played. I thought last night
• 7:53
  Speaker 5: was a great example of that. We get down in
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: the game and we weren't trying to break things open.
• 7:59
  Speaker 5: We stayed simple and stayed with our game. Maybe we
• 8:02
  Speaker 5: didn't do that in the Vegas game, so I think
• 8:05
  Speaker 5: we did a great job of that. I think the
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: rest of the road trip we've been good scoring up
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: and down the lineup, so that's been huge and I
• 8:12
  Speaker 5: think we've been great off the forecheck. We've been scoring
• 8:14
  Speaker 5: some goals right off of it. That's something good to
• 8:17
  Speaker 5: see for sure.
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: What can having a trip like this mean going forward
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: because it came so early in the season? What can
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: that mean as far as confidence and other stuff?
• 8:26
  Speaker 5: Confidence, getting around the guys a lot is super helpful
• 8:30
  Speaker 5: for me at least. The road trips are always so fun.
• 8:35
  Speaker 5: You spend so much time with each other on the
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: plane playing cards or whatever it is going out there.
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: I you know, we've loved it so far.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: So, Mackie Samuskevich, ready, set, go for a potential big
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: day in his return to Florida now with different team colors.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: He faces a Panthers team, 4-2 and 2 to begin
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: the season. They have won back-to-back games after dropping previously
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: four of the last five. Setting us up here on
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: the Panthers side is a conversation we had with radio
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: play-by-play voice Doug Pleggins, originally heard on Kraken Weekly.
• 9:09
  Speaker 6: In terms of the time off, I mean, it's tough
• 9:13
  Speaker 6: to pick just one guy. I think everybody was able
• 9:16
  Speaker 6: to utilize that time to heal up. Like I said,
• 9:20
  Speaker 6: there were a lot of guys here that had their
• 9:24
  Speaker 6: season cut short last year. One of the guys, the
• 9:28
  Speaker 6: guy you feel the worst for, that I think really
• 9:31
  Speaker 6: had a ton of momentum actually coming into the year
• 9:34
  Speaker 6: was the captain, Alexander Barkov. He missed all of last season. Remember,
• 9:37
  Speaker 6: had the injury in training camp. First day that veterans
• 9:40
  Speaker 6: were on the ice. Last year in camp, he went
• 9:42
  Speaker 6: down with the injury, missed the whole season. That being said,
• 9:46
  Speaker 6: once the offseason for most guys began, it kind of
• 9:50
  Speaker 6: felt like it was the start of the season for him.
• 9:52
  Speaker 6: He went over to play for Team Finland at the
• 9:55
  Speaker 6: World Championships and absolutely dominated. It looked like he was
• 9:58
  Speaker 6: in mid-season form, was the best player on a Team
• 10:01
  Speaker 6: Finland team that won gold at the World Championships, which
• 10:04
  Speaker 6: is no easy task, as we all know. So for him,
• 10:08
  Speaker 6: he had a ton of momentum going into camp, and
• 10:10
  Speaker 6: then Game 2 in San Jose has the freak incident
• 10:16
  Speaker 6: and ends up, going down with an injury and everybody
• 10:19
  Speaker 6: held their collective breath for a moment there. And, you know,
• 10:21
  Speaker 6: Paul Maurice has kind of mentioned that you kind of
• 10:24
  Speaker 6: weren't sure what, what was going to happen from there,
• 10:27
  Speaker 6: from there on, you find out then afterward that it's
• 10:30
  Speaker 6: only going to be six to eight weeks. And, and
• 10:32
  Speaker 6: as Paul Maurice said, when, when everybody got that news,
• 10:34
  Speaker 6: you kind of breathe a sigh of relief because after
• 10:37
  Speaker 6: last season, you're like, okay, six to eight weeks, we
• 10:40
  Speaker 6: can deal with that. You know, that's, that's nothing we haven't,
• 10:43
  Speaker 6: haven't navigated through before. So, After last season, a six-
• 10:47
  Speaker 6: to eight-week injury absence feels relatively less daunting, I should say,
• 10:53
  Speaker 6: to navigate through. That being said, and I've mentioned this
• 10:57
  Speaker 6: really anywhere that will give me the opportunity, and for
• 10:59
  Speaker 6: a lot of folks out there, I know we have
• 11:01
  Speaker 6: people listening here who primarily probably follow the Western Conference
• 11:06
  Speaker 6: and Pacific Division, and understandably so. But I know Connor
• 11:10
  Speaker 6: McDavid does things at full speed nobody else can do.
• 11:12
  Speaker 6: I know Nate McKinnon does things. you know, more explosively
• 11:16
  Speaker 6: than anybody else can in the league, perhaps. But to me,
• 11:19
  Speaker 6: there's nobody in the league who impacts every single shift,
• 11:23
  Speaker 6: regardless of situation, more than the Panthers captain Sasha Barkov does.
• 11:27
  Speaker 6: I've seen Austin Matthews, Artemi Panarin, Nikita Kucherov, Sebastian Ajo,
• 11:33
  Speaker 6: basically disappear during playoff series because of Alexander Barkoff. It's
• 11:39
  Speaker 6: a matchup nightmare for anybody. So, you know, right now
• 11:42
  Speaker 6: the Panthers dealing with life without him, the advantage, I
• 11:46
  Speaker 6: should say the bright side to it is that not
• 11:48
  Speaker 6: last year, he's not gone for the year. It was
• 11:50
  Speaker 6: a six to eight week absence and we've already started
• 11:54
  Speaker 6: the clock ticking a little bit on that time. So
• 11:56
  Speaker 6: I'm hoping to, hoping to see him back sooner than later.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: Doug, as if having one could Chuck go to the
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: Panthers and Matthew didn't make us drop our jaw enough.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: There was then June 21st of 2026 when the collective
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: jaws dropped all across the hockey world when the Panthers
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: got Brady Kachuk, his brother, via trade. And it cost
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: them the ninth overall pick in this last year's draft,
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: the 25th overall pick in this last year's draft.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: By the way, Kraken connected.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: The 2027 second round pick and a conditional first round
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: pick as well. So far, what's the return on Brady
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: Kachuk as a Florida Panther?
• 12:36
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I was going to say, you can't tell the
• 12:38
  Speaker 6: story of that day because it's really, when you talk
• 12:41
  Speaker 6: about the Brady-Kachuk trade with Ottawa, you almost have to
• 12:44
  Speaker 6: tell the story of that whole day and the sequence
• 12:46
  Speaker 6: of events that went into it. And obviously, Mackie Samaskevich
• 12:49
  Speaker 6: was involved in the trade going out to Seattle. And
• 12:53
  Speaker 6: you wondered at that point in time when the Panthers
• 12:56
  Speaker 6: added another first-round pick, it was either the Panthers adding
• 13:00
  Speaker 6: another pick, looking to stock the cupboard if they wound
• 13:03
  Speaker 6: up making the pick, or... you felt like maybe Bill
• 13:06
  Speaker 6: Vito was up to something bigger and that turned out
• 13:10
  Speaker 6: to be the case. And the Panthers used a package
• 13:13
  Speaker 6: of assets to acquire Brady to Chuck. And it was,
• 13:16
  Speaker 6: you know, one of the blockbusters of the off season.
• 13:19
  Speaker 6: He's coming in fit like a glove and going back
• 13:23
  Speaker 6: to when the Panthers acquired Brad Marchand, um, a couple
• 13:26
  Speaker 6: of years back would have been the deadline of 2025.
• 13:28
  Speaker 6: And everybody remembers, you know, the, the trade went through
• 13:32
  Speaker 6: at the 11th hour and, um, I remember the next
• 13:35
  Speaker 6: day talking to Paul Maurice and Brad was injured at
• 13:39
  Speaker 6: the time, wasn't ready to debut that day. But the
• 13:41
  Speaker 6: next day when I talked to Paul Maurice for the
• 13:43
  Speaker 6: pregame show, just asked him the simple question of what
• 13:46
  Speaker 6: went through his mind when he found out that he
• 13:47
  Speaker 6: was going to be adding Brad Marchand eventually. And he
• 13:50
  Speaker 6: said that Brad was a guy that already had a
• 13:53
  Speaker 6: little Florida Panther in him. And the same thing went
• 13:56
  Speaker 6: through my mind when I heard the Panthers acquired Brady Kachuk.
• 13:59
  Speaker 6: This is a guy, and not just because his brother
• 14:01
  Speaker 6: was already on the team, had a little Florida Panther
• 14:03
  Speaker 6: in him. He's a guy who's worn a letter on
• 14:06
  Speaker 6: his jersey before, obviously. The Panthers have a lot of
• 14:09
  Speaker 6: guys who've done that, a lot of veteran guys, guys
• 14:11
  Speaker 6: who've been leaders, guys who've been leaned on in that
• 14:14
  Speaker 6: role throughout their careers. But a guy who presents a
• 14:18
  Speaker 6: really unique skill set, is a smart player, has great
• 14:22
  Speaker 6: hands around the net. And as you know, he gets
• 14:25
  Speaker 6: moving downhill. He's an absolute wrecking ball and plays with
• 14:29
  Speaker 6: a mean streak to his game as well. Really excited
• 14:32
  Speaker 6: to see as this season goes on how he and
• 14:35
  Speaker 6: Matthew continue to be able to play together at times
• 14:40
  Speaker 6: on a line. And I can confirm to you, Paul
• 14:42
  Speaker 6: Maurice did say somewhat comedically during training camp, he was
• 14:45
  Speaker 6: asked about putting the two Kachuks with Sam Bennett. And
• 14:50
  Speaker 6: he joked that they may all end up in jail
• 14:52
  Speaker 6: before the puck drops. But I can confirm they have
• 14:58
  Speaker 6: played together at times this season. And everybody is still
• 15:02
  Speaker 6: a free citizen. Nobody is in jail up there at
• 15:04
  Speaker 6: this point in time. And they have played somewhat extensively
• 15:07
  Speaker 6: together here early in the year due to some of
• 15:09
  Speaker 6: the injuries the Panthers have had. It wasn't the line
• 15:11
  Speaker 6: combo out of the gates. But the Panthers have deployed
• 15:15
  Speaker 6: that trio up front at times here in the early
• 15:19
  Speaker 6: part of the season. It's been a great fit. And,
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: you know, I know that Matthew and Brady both, I'm sure,
• 15:27
  Speaker 6: for a lot of the other fan bases across the league,
• 15:29
  Speaker 6: have probably gotten under people's skin at times. They play
• 15:33
  Speaker 6: that way. They play with that edge and that emotion
• 15:35
  Speaker 6: and that tenacity. but I can tell you, off the ice,
• 15:40
  Speaker 6: outstanding character guys, which is a big part of what
• 15:43
  Speaker 6: this Panthers team's built around, and Brady, like I said,
• 15:47
  Speaker 6: fit absolutely seamlessly so far.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: That Paul Maurice quote was an all-timer, and I kind
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: of borrow the line here from Forrest Gump. A Paul
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: Maurice press conference is like a box of chocolates. You
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: never know what you're going to get. Doug Plagan's joining
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: us right now.
• 15:59
  Speaker 6: But you're always going to learn something.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: That's the thing.
• 16:02
  Speaker 6: He's one of those guys, when he talks, you're always,
• 16:04
  Speaker 6: it's going to, We're very fortunate here because we talk
• 16:07
  Speaker 6: to him every day and every day he says something
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: that makes you watch things a little bit differently the
• 16:12
  Speaker 6: next time around.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: He is categorically renowned as one of the brightest hockey
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: minds here on the entire planet and the reason why.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: He has stuck around for as long as he has
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: stuck around. Doug, you brought up Mackie Samaskevich, and so far,
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: early returns. It's kind of funny how things just work
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: out here for both parties because Mackie Samaskevich and Brady
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: Kachuk will be connected forever as far as how events
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: went back down in June. Four points, six games, three
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: goals also on the Kraken side. He's getting top-line ice
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: time right now with Matty Beneers, but I think we
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: all knew Based on the makeup of the Panthers roster,
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: there wasn't much more room for him to get more
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: ice time, hence his availability. He was still a first-round pick,
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: so can you go back and look on his time
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: there in Florida and think about the kind of potential
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: that you always thought that he had?
• 17:04
  Speaker 6: Well, I think first, if you're looking at it, when
• 17:06
  Speaker 6: the trade was made, I think everybody was looking at
• 17:09
  Speaker 6: it as, you know, this is one that especially the
• 17:12
  Speaker 6: way everything played out. It worked for all parties. I
• 17:14
  Speaker 6: think everybody who made a trade that day or some
• 17:17
  Speaker 6: form of transaction walked away from things feeling pretty good
• 17:21
  Speaker 6: about what they had accomplished. And with Mackey, I can
• 17:25
  Speaker 6: tell you everybody was excited for him to be able
• 17:28
  Speaker 6: to get an opportunity up the lineup, something like that.
• 17:32
  Speaker 6: The Panthers have so many you know, star players and
• 17:35
  Speaker 6: guys that are on the long contracts and things like that. And,
• 17:39
  Speaker 6: and a lot of those spots were, you know, they
• 17:41
  Speaker 6: were going to be tough, tough to, tough to grab.
• 17:44
  Speaker 6: So Mac, he goes out to Seattle and everybody figured
• 17:47
  Speaker 6: he's going to get a little bit more of an
• 17:48
  Speaker 6: opportunity there, maybe get some power play minutes, things like that. And,
• 17:52
  Speaker 6: you know, He's got that connection with Matty Beneers going
• 17:54
  Speaker 6: back to the University of Michigan. I'm sure that they
• 17:57
  Speaker 6: were excited to be able to kind of reunite as
• 18:00
  Speaker 6: far as that's concerned. But looking back to, you know,
• 18:03
  Speaker 6: Matty's time here, first I can tell you from the
• 18:05
  Speaker 6: time he was drafted, you know, everybody was always excited
• 18:09
  Speaker 6: and figured the Panthers at the pick they took him
• 18:11
  Speaker 6: at in the 20s that year back in 2021 felt
• 18:14
  Speaker 6: like they got a real value pick, a real bargain there,
• 18:17
  Speaker 6: you know, at that later portion of the first round.
• 18:20
  Speaker 6: And his shot was what was always talked about, first
• 18:24
  Speaker 6: and foremost, that he had an NHL-ready release from the
• 18:27
  Speaker 6: time he was drafted. And then as you got to
• 18:30
  Speaker 6: see him play, you got to talk to him, you
• 18:33
  Speaker 6: realize that he's just a grade-A individual. He can fly
• 18:39
  Speaker 6: up and down the ice, great straight-line speed. He's a
• 18:43
  Speaker 6: smart player, mature beyond his years. great attitude at the
• 18:47
  Speaker 6: rink every day and was always taking in as much
• 18:50
  Speaker 6: as he could from all the veteran guys around him.
• 18:52
  Speaker 6: And the first Panthers Cup run, he was around for
• 18:55
  Speaker 6: a lot of it. And he was, you know, he didn't,
• 18:57
  Speaker 6: he didn't play during that run, but he was one
• 18:59
  Speaker 6: of the, you know, he was one of the guys up,
• 19:01
  Speaker 6: one of the black aces, if you will, that was
• 19:03
  Speaker 6: up and got to witness a lot of, you know,
• 19:05
  Speaker 6: what was going on and, really benefited a lot from
• 19:09
  Speaker 6: that and being able to, you know, train the facility
• 19:12
  Speaker 6: and just, you know, kind of take that whole experience in.
• 19:15
  Speaker 6: Then in 2025, played playoff games. He was involved in
• 19:18
  Speaker 6: that run. And it was, you know, another just year
• 19:22
  Speaker 6: of valuable experience for him. And just in talking to
• 19:26
  Speaker 6: Paul Maurice, I know that he's a guy that was
• 19:28
  Speaker 6: leaned on for offensive production everywhere he went. He learned
• 19:34
  Speaker 6: a lot, you could tell, in Florida. He played... Would
• 19:37
  Speaker 6: have been a big chunk of the season two seasons
• 19:42
  Speaker 6: ago early on. Played on the fourth line. I remember
• 19:45
  Speaker 6: him playing a lot with guys like Tomasz Nosek and A.J.
• 19:49
  Speaker 6: Greer on the Panthers' fourth line, and it seemed like
• 19:53
  Speaker 6: that really helped him round out his game. It just
• 19:56
  Speaker 6: seemed like he learned a lot about that 200-foot game and,
• 19:59
  Speaker 6: you know, making smart plays around the boards and just
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: making the smart plays in general, and felt like that
• 20:04
  Speaker 6: was really good for his development overall, and and I'd
• 20:08
  Speaker 6: imagine he would probably still tell you that all that
• 20:10
  Speaker 6: time that, that he played down the lineup with the
• 20:13
  Speaker 6: Panthers really helped him round out his game and just
• 20:15
  Speaker 6: being around that team. So like I said, I think
• 20:18
  Speaker 6: Kraken fans have a guy there that they're going to
• 20:20
  Speaker 6: be excited to have, but they should be excited to have. And,
• 20:23
  Speaker 6: And I think that's somebody that we'll be able to
• 20:25
  Speaker 6: really root for for a long time. And hey, I
• 20:27
  Speaker 6: know that we're pulling for him to have success. He's
• 20:30
  Speaker 6: a great guy.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: He's looking forward to this game certainly coming up. With
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: these trades going on, of course, it represents, and I'll
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: get into the weeds here on this, the evolution of
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: the Florida Panthers here in the last 10 years. I
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: start first off just with the fact that, without question,
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: they are now a destination city. and for one certain reason,
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: you'll win, guys want to follow, they want to go
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: and win a Stanley Cup there.
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: Similar vein as.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: say where the Red Wings were about 20 years ago,
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: the Avalanche, et cetera, et cetera. But now we hear
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: about players who want to take on an extra level
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: of empowerment and use their no-movement clause to their advantage,
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: where you have players, and I won't name names for now,
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: but they have reportedly three to four destinations in mind,
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: and you have the hockey world buzzing, maybe with an
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: air of cynicism by saying, oh, it's just Florida, oh,
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: it's just Florida. But yet you have Gary Bettman now
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: coming out and saying that there may be talk about
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: how these no movement clauses are used because that's not
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: how nature intended. And I'm just kind of paraphrasing this. So,
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, Doug, I would love your perspective on this
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: if you can. What's your take on players? What's your
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: take on players who are actively trying to choose their
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: own destinations?
• 21:47
  Speaker 6: Well, I mean, it's a big thing that I'm not
• 21:50
  Speaker 6: sure we even have time to tackle all of it here,
• 21:52
  Speaker 6: but I can... I can speak to just the way
• 21:54
  Speaker 6: things have evolved here and about becoming a destination franchise.
• 22:00
  Speaker 6: First of all, before my time, you go back to
• 22:03
  Speaker 6: the 2000s, for example, and the Panthers were the total
• 22:08
  Speaker 6: opposite of a perennial playoff team back in that era.
• 22:10
  Speaker 6: And we're talking about 20 years ago. And Tampa Bay
• 22:15
  Speaker 6: Lightning had a lot of rough, lean years back in
• 22:19
  Speaker 6: that era, too. Let's not forget that once upon a time,
• 22:22
  Speaker 6: they had a number one pick that landed them Stephen Stamkos. Well,
• 22:26
  Speaker 6: to have the number one pick, things probably didn't go
• 22:29
  Speaker 6: real well for you prior to that. So, you know,
• 22:31
  Speaker 6: that's the way things shook out there. But with the
• 22:35
  Speaker 6: Panthers going back in time, let's just go back to,
• 22:39
  Speaker 6: first of all, the first building blocks that were laid here,
• 22:41
  Speaker 6: and it's a huge cultural thing, but the first building
• 22:43
  Speaker 6: blocks that were laid, you know, you have Sasha Barkov
• 22:46
  Speaker 6: gets drafted back in 2013. And Aaron Eckblad is drafted
• 22:51
  Speaker 6: in 2014. And those draft picks obviously hit. And then
• 22:55
  Speaker 6: as time goes on, you kind of fast forward post-pandemic.
• 23:00
  Speaker 6: And Bill Vito's first season as the general manager was 2020-21.
• 23:06
  Speaker 6: And his first moves were, a couple of his first moves,
• 23:10
  Speaker 6: I should say, were acquiring Patrick Hornquist. a proven winner,
• 23:14
  Speaker 6: a guy with an infectious personality, and a guy who
• 23:19
  Speaker 6: immediately commanded the respect of not just the players in
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: the room, the entire organization. Patrick walks into a room and,
• 23:26
  Speaker 6: you know, he's just one of those guys that just
• 23:29
  Speaker 6: people gravitate toward. And, you know, obviously nobody could dispute
• 23:33
  Speaker 6: his track record. He's won multiple Stanley Cups. Then Bilvito
• 23:37
  Speaker 6: acquires Radko Gudis. You know, if he's on your team,
• 23:41
  Speaker 6: He is one of the most respected, beloved people on
• 23:43
  Speaker 6: your team. And he is a veteran guy. I know
• 23:46
  Speaker 6: that around the rest of the league, you know, he
• 23:49
  Speaker 6: sometimes gets under your skin. He might play with an edge.
• 23:52
  Speaker 6: He's physical. He's one of those guys you have to
• 23:54
  Speaker 6: keep your head up against. But he's on your team.
• 23:57
  Speaker 6: He's one of your leaders, and he's one of your
• 23:59
  Speaker 6: culture setters. And, you know, a couple of Bill Zito's
• 24:01
  Speaker 6: first moves were landing those players. And then, of course,
• 24:04
  Speaker 6: the big move in the summer of 22, landing Brady Kachuk,
• 24:08
  Speaker 6: or Matthew Kachuk, as you say, excuse me, after the
• 24:11
  Speaker 6: Panthers had won a president's trophy, but then they were
• 24:13
  Speaker 6: swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning in round two. And
• 24:16
  Speaker 6: the way that they played that previous year, it was entertaining.
• 24:20
  Speaker 6: They won a ton of games. They scored a ton
• 24:21
  Speaker 6: of goals. But the way that they were ousted from
• 24:24
  Speaker 6: the playoffs in round two, they figured that clearly changes
• 24:28
  Speaker 6: needed to be made. And, of course, you make the
• 24:31
  Speaker 6: deal for Matthew Kachuk in the middle of that offseason
• 24:33
  Speaker 6: as well. Paul Maurice also hired to be the head coach,
• 24:36
  Speaker 6: perfect coach at the perfect time for the perfect group
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: of players. that was evolving and Bill Dito continued to
• 24:43
  Speaker 6: surround or just plug in quality veteran guys. A guy
• 24:48
  Speaker 6: you're familiar with out there, Brandon Montour, was one of
• 24:50
  Speaker 6: those players, came in, benefited from a change of scenery,
• 24:54
  Speaker 6: went to the Panthers, really realized a lot of maybe
• 24:57
  Speaker 6: untapped potential. Going against Sam Bennett, who had kind of
• 25:00
  Speaker 6: fallen out of favor in Calgary a little bit, maybe
• 25:03
  Speaker 6: was misused, quite honestly, in Calgary, came to the Panthers,
• 25:06
  Speaker 6: was plugged in as a second-line center, and things just
• 25:09
  Speaker 6: took off for him. Sam Reinhart, getting him out of Buffalo,
• 25:12
  Speaker 6: the list goes on. And these are guys that played
• 25:15
  Speaker 6: a certain way, played a smart brand of hockey, wanted
• 25:18
  Speaker 6: to win, team first guys. And again, it was just
• 25:22
  Speaker 6: an absolute masterclass in how to construct a roster that
• 25:27
  Speaker 6: Bill Hedo did and also just a masterclass in how
• 25:30
  Speaker 6: to you know, implement and grow and evolve a culture.
• 25:34
  Speaker 6: And that's really what it's all about here with the Panthers.
• 25:37
  Speaker 6: So I can't speak too much about what goes on elsewhere,
• 25:40
  Speaker 6: but when players want to go to the Panthers, it
• 25:42
  Speaker 6: stems from that entire sequence of events I just laid out.
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: Big thanks again to Doug Pleggins for joining us.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: And again, that conversation in full, available on Kraken Weekly
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: Podcast via the iHeartRadio app. on the Kraken Audio Network side.
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: Faceoffs at 3, airtimes at 2.30. Hope you can certainly
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: join us as the Kraken aiming for a 4-0-1 road
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: trip and a major step to take. We'll have all
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: the stories, lineup updates, and more. Hope you'll join us
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: then for the broadcast. In the meantime, thanks for hanging
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: out with us right here. Big thank you also to
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: Doug Pleggins. And for Kraken This Morning, I'm Mike Benton.
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: Have a happy Saturday and enjoy the game. Your home
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: for the Kraken. Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM.