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What Toronto Maple Leafs Fans Should Expect From Ilya Samsonov

By Jeremy Ridgewell

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 13: Ilya Samsonov #30 of the Washington Capitals looks on against the Florida Panthers during the third period in Game Six of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on May 13, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 13: Ilya Samsonov #30 of the Washington Capitals looks on against the Florida Panthers during the third period in Game Six of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on May 13, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs will start the 2022-23 season with a fresh pair of goaltenders.

One of them is 25-yea-old Ilya Samsonov, who signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent (UFA) on July 13th.

Samsonov joins the Leafs after three seasons with the Washington Capitals. He has played in 89 NHL games, with 79 of those being games he started. The young Russian goaltender has an NHL record of 52-22-8, with six shutouts. He has a career GAA of 2.81 and a .902 SV%.
(Stats from hockey-reference.com)

Even though Samsonov and the Capitals lost their first-round playoff match-up against the Florida Panthers, Samsonov only allowed 13 goals on 148 shots. He finished the 2022 NHL playoffs with a 2.97 GAA and a .912 SV%. Toronto’s Jack Campbell allowed 21 goals on 203 shots with a 3.15 GAA and a .897 SV% in the 2022 NHL playoffs.

Like many Toronto Maple Leafs fans, I loved Jack Campbell but do not think he is worth the $5 million he will be getting from the Edmonton Oilers over the next five seasons. As sad as it is to see Campbell leave Toronto, I’m excited to see a younger guy like Samsonov get the opportunity of a lifetime.

Ilya Samsonov’s First Season With Toronto Maple Leafs

Samsonov will start the 2022-23 regular season competing for the starting goaltenders job against Matt Murray. Toronto will be hoping to see Murray put his injury problems behind him. General manager Kyle Dubas would love to see Murray return to the form that helped him win two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

However, if Murray stumbles, Samsonov will be ready to be Toronto’s number one guy in the net. Dubas and head coach Sheldon Keefe will have their fingers crossed that they get the best from both goaltenders. The healthy competition between Murray and Samsonov will be a good thing for the team and both of them.

Toronto Maple Leafs fans should expect Samsonov to give Toronto a chance to win every single game. Depending on how many games Samsonov plays this season will determine his overall record, but I expect him to win the majority of his games. For argument’s sake, if Toronto plays each goaltender in 41 games, I would expect Samsonov to win at least 25 of those games.

Samsonov will be a restricted free agent (RFA) after this season. Depending on how well he plays, he could find himself in Toronto for a while. He is making $1.8 million this season and could earn a nice chunk of the estimated $15 million Toronto will have available cap space next summer.

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Samsonov is able to file for arbitration, so keep that in mind when the time comes for the Toronto Maple Leafs to start negotiating.

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