My Profile of Samoskevich from 2021:
C/RW Mackie Samoskevich, 5'11"190lbs (Chicago Steel,USHL): Seems I'm writing about the Steel a lot lately. Here's a kid we should all look at. He plays on the top two lines, mostly with Coronato and Middendorf. We all know and love Coronato, but I just read an article that put forth some interesting facts to suggest that Mackie is as good, or better as a prospect than Coronato.
First of all, at 5 on 5, Samoskevich produced 1.9 expected goals/60 vs. Coronato's 1.93-so pretty negligible. Samoskevich had 1.31 expected primary assists vs. Coronato's 1.28. Samoskevich had 37pts in 36 games, while Coronato had 85 in 51. Don't get me wrong, Coronato will still go higher on draft day.
Coronato relies on a high volume of shots off solo rushes-a skill that doesn't translate, as most player's shots are assisted. 50% of his scoring chances, and 69% of his shots were unassisted. Samoskevich avoids low-percentage and solo shots (only 27% of his shots).
Samoskevich is more efficient in transition. His puck-control is special, with near perfect mechanics, a limitless arsenal of moves, and layers of deception on every manoever. Few players can can make defenders commit their weight,or freeze entirely in transition like him. 23% of his entries cross the "dot zone"(imagine two parallel lines that run from the defensive zone faceoff dots to the offensive zone faceoff dots), which shows the east-west in his north-south attacks when gaining the zone. Only 4% of Coronato's entries accomplished this feat. Coronato is always on his inside edges with the puck in front. instead of across his hips (like Samo), forcing him to deke through traffic, and therefore making him easier to push to the perimeter. Samoskevich's puckhandling, pace, and patience are more translatable, and have more upside. In expected goals shot or set up, Coronato (6th in the league, 3rd amongst draft eligibles) and Samo (6th and 4th) are very close.
Samoskevich is mostly a pure offensive player, mainly seeing O-zone starts, but he's still reliable in his own end in the sense that can pass it, or carry it himself on breakouts. Some of his decisions in the D zone can be questionable, and a little risky. When he's on the ice the zone entries mostly come from him. He has poise, patience, and creates a ton of high danger chances.
Samo's stickhandling and skating are his most impressive attributes. He could skate and stickhandle in a phone booth. He can get up to blazing speed in only a few strides, and can evade and embarrass even the best defenders with his elusiveness, agility, and puckhandling. His edgework makes him unpredictable, and he's strong on his skates-you can't knock him of the puck, or take it away from him. He can find teammates with pinpoint passes in flight, and has one of the best releases in the draft. One article compares his style to Marner, but he reminds me of Barzal. One of the fastest in this draft.
I've seen him mostly in the second round, but I bet he goes in the first.
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