The Toronto Maple Leafs may have found their second goaltender, as Arthur Staple of The Athletic links them to Ilya Samsonov. The former Washington Capitals netminder was not given a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent this summer, putting him on the open market.
Samsonov, 25, hasn’t lived up to his first-round draft position just yet but carries the kind of massive upside that a team like the Maple Leafs have to swing for at this point in free agency. Toronto already acquired Matt Murray from the Ottawa Senators in the hopes of bringing out the level that helped him to two Stanley Cup championships in Pittsburgh, and now the Maple Leafs bring in another inconsistent netminder hoping to unlock hidden talent.
Selected 22nd overall in 2015, Samsonov had a strong rookie season for Washington in 2019-20 but has been putting up worse and worse numbers ever since. This year, he had an .896 save percentage in 44 appearances, obviously not good enough for the Capitals to retain him as their starter moving forward.
Still, he had an okay performance in the postseason, and that’s what the Maple Leafs are focused on. The team simply has to find a way through the first round, and with a Murray-Samsonov tandem, there is at least the potential for excellent goaltending.
It is a risk, though, and likely an expensive one. There is a real chance that both netminders fail to find another level and give the Maple Leafs sub-.900 goaltending all year long.
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