Are Florida Panthers loading up for blockbuster offseason move?

The Florida Panthers traded restricted free agent forward Mackie Samoskevich to the Seattle Kraken on Sunday afternoon for two draft picks, including the No. 25 overall pick in the 2026 class. 

The NHL Draft begins with the first round on Friday. 

It's a fair return for Samoskevich, a talented but not quite finished product at forward, while it also gives Seattle a young player with some untapped potential who could still emerge as a top-line player. 

But all of that is simply a sub-plot for what the trade could mean in the bigger picture of the offseason for the Panthers. 

With the No. 25 pick now in their possession, the Panthers own two of the top-25 picks in the 2026 draft class (No. 9 and No. 25) and could be positioning themselves for a massive blockbuster move in the coming days. 

Could the Panthers be gathering assets to make a run at Connor Hellebuyck?

It is not hard to put the puzzle pieces together here and see how there could be a potential fit between the Panthers and the Winnipeg Jets involving a Connor Hellebuyck trade.

1. Hellebuyck was extremely unhappy with the state of the Winnipeg organization following the regular season and seems to be tired of losing in an organization that isn't maximizing the talent around him. That has put him as a serious trade candidate going into the offseason.
2. The Panthers do not have a goalie under contract for this season and should not be willing to pay to bring back Sergei Bobrovsky given his age and rapidly declining play. It is a position that was a major problem spot during the 2025-26 season 
3. With a healthy Aleksander Barkov returning this season, the Panthers are going to be all-in on trying to win, and adding a top-tier goalie to their roster could make them a serious preseason favorite even though they are coming off a season that saw them miss the playoffs entirely.
4. With two top-25 picks, Florida now has some serious draft pick capital that could be of interest to Winnipeg.

The two picks alone might not be enough for one of the league's elite goalies, but it would almost certainly be part of the package.