Samoskevich Gets Another Season to Build in Vancouver
Written by Izabela Gage
VANCOUVER — Madison Samoskevich’s first season with the Vancouver Goldeneyes was an adjustment. After being selected as a fifth-round pick in the 2025 PWHL Draft, Samoskevich had to navigate the professional game while adapting to different roles on the ice.
The Goldeneyes re-signed Samoskevich to a one-year contract extension Sept. 8, keeping her in Vancouver through the 2026-27 season.
During her rookie campaign, Samoskevich played 23 games as a defender before moving to center for the Goldeneyes’ final four games.
A shift like that was not entirely new for Samoskevich. During her final season at Quinnipiac University, she also moved from defense to forward, finishing her college career with 84 points in 168 games. She led the Bobcats in power-play goals and faceoff wins during her fifth year.
Her first chance to test her versatility at the professional level came late in her rookie season. On April 14, Samoskevich moved to center against the Seattle Torrent and scored her first PWHL goal in her first game as a forward. She became the third Vancouver rookie to net her first goal that season.
Samoskevich has been developing her determination to improve almost her entire life. Growing up in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, she often found herself competing against her twin brother, Mackie, and their older sister in backyard hockey games.
“We were so competitive. I was the defenseman, and my brother and sister were both forwards, so they were always coming 2-on-1 against me. Growing up, I wasn’t really on their skill level, you could say. So, I was sort of like a cone out there,” Samoskevich said.
Her older sister would also put the twins through “boot camps and hard workouts,” creating a competitive environment that pushed Samoskevich to keep up.
“She never took it easy on us,” she said.
Backyard games with her siblings were one part of Samoskevich’s early hockey life, and now she has another connection to the game that will follow her into her second season. Starting this season, she will have family a little closer to home since her brother was traded to the Seattle Kraken in June, bringing the twins to teams separated by only a few hours across the Canadian border.
The two of them made history in March, becoming the first set of twins to play in back-to-back games across the NHL and PWHL. Mackie played for the Florida Panthers against the Vancouver Canucks on March 17, 2026, and Samoskevich followed the next day with the Goldeneyes against the New York Sirens.
“We’re so pumped. Florida came to Vancouver last year and so my family flew up, and we got to spend some time together during the season, which was really rare and super nice,” Samoskevich said.
With 15 players returning from the Goldeneyes’ inaugural roster, Samoskevich will be surrounded by a familiar group. She already knows the pace of the PWHL and what it takes to compete at the professional level. Now, Samoskevich has another season to continue developing her game and determine how she can contribute to a Vancouver team that is still growing.
The one-year extension gives Samoskevich a chance to turn the lessons of her rookie season into progress on the ice, but this time with a year of professional experience behind her.
