The Toronto Maple Leafs have their goaltending duo.
After acquiring Matt Murray earlier in the week in a no-risk move that saw the Senators pay the Toronto Maple Leafs to take on the former 2 x Cup Winner, the Leafs have now supposedly signed Ilya Samsonov.
The ex-Capitals goalie is an intriguing proposition, and now gives the Leafs a highly talented duo at what will likely be much cheaper than the average amount of money contending teams pay for goaltending.
And now time for a musical interlude.
Toronto Maple Leafs and Ilya Samsonov
According to Frank Seravalli:
Hearing #Leafs have agreed to terms with G Ilya Samsonov on a 1-year, $1.8 million deal.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 13, 2022
Toronto has their guy to play alongside Matt Murray in tandem next season.@DailyFaceoff
That is a ridiculously cheap cap hit. Combined with Murray’s $4.7 that’s just $6.5 committed to goalies next year.
Campbell and Mrazek combined for $5.4 million, and I think the Phil Kessel money (ever since 2017 the Leafs have been paying $1 million of Kessel’s cap hit, which expired this summer) has been put to good use here, since last year’s duo ranked 27th best in the league, and I think this year’s duo can likely beat that without too much trouble.
The Matt Murray trade seemed to confuse a lot of people, but as a part of a high-potential, buy-low duo, the Leafs have minimized the risk, maximized the reward, and it didn’t cost them anything but cap space.
In fact, it netted them two extra draft picks.
Meanwhile, in the last year I wrote that signing Jack Campbell to a multi-year extension was a “firable offense” and that Edmonton was the worst run team in pro sports.
You’ll never guess who signed Jack Campbell to a five year deal!
Also, Claude Giroux has signed in Ottawa, Malkin signed back in Pittsburgh, and Evander Kane re-upped in Edmonton as well.
All in all, an interesting start to free-agency.
The Toronto Maple Leafs solved their goaltending troubles without tapping into any of their flexibility (They can trade Hull, Muzzin and Kerfoot for over $11 in cap space) and so it remains to be seen how else they will improve their roster.
One thing we know for sure: The Leafs have solved their goaltending troubles with intelligence and creativity, and now have two goalies with high upside, and very strong odds that one of them will steal the crease and help them win a Stanley Cup.
The best part of this low-risk gamble: they new duo only needs to be the 26th best duo in the NHL for it to pay off. A huge win for the league’s smartest team.