Kraken Activate Mackie Samoskevich, Place Jacob Melanson On IR

The Kraken are set to welcome back one of their key acquisitions this summer.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they have activated winger Mackie Samoskevich off injured reserve.  To make room on the roster, winger Jacob Melanson has been placed on IR.

Seattle acquired Samoskevich from Florida before the draft, sending a 2026 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round selection to get him, then signed him to a three-year bridge deal worth $3.85MM per season.  Unfortunately for them, he wasn’t quite ready to start the season due to an upper-body injury but he’ll only wind up missing one game as a result of it.

Samoskevich has two full NHL campaigns under his belt and was pretty consistent production-wise.  He put up 15 goals and 31 points in his rookie year, then followed that up with 12 goals and 32 points last season.  Notably, he didn’t play big minutes in either season and the hope is that he’ll have an opportunity to thrive with what should be a bigger role for him once he’s up to speed in a new system.

As for Melanson, he recently inked a three-year deal himself worth $1.45MM per season.  The 23-year-old started last season in the minors but was in the lineup somewhat regularly after an early December recall.  He recorded five points and 188 hits in 36 games last season while averaging a little over nine minutes per night of ice time.  Melanson had two hits in Seattle’s season opener while being held off the scoresheet.

Unfortunately for the Kraken, Melanson’s absence will wind up being a longer one.  The team has listed him as week-to-week with an upper-body injury of his own so it’s going to be a little while before he gets into game number two on the campaign.