#4. Ilya Samsonov
Stats with the Leafs:
Games Started: 40
Wins: 27
Losses: 10
OT Losses: 5
GAA: 2.33
SV%: .919
Contract Status:
RFA
Overall Thoughts:
After losing a “wholesome” goalie in Campbell, the Leafs somehow ended up with another one in Samsonov. Many looked forward to his press conferences in the year, and he earned his nickname as “Sammy Smiles”.
Obviously though, the hockey is more important and after being unqualified by the Washington Capitals, Samsonov had lots to prove. Well, he wasted no time at all, and ultimately ended up playing in a lot more games than he or the Leafs likely envisioned.
Samsonov brought many quality starts to the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a major part of their success. It felt nice having a goalie that seemingly had the team’s back and wouldn’t let in a goal on every breakaway against them.
Samsonov brought stability to an injury depleted roster, and while the team really pulled it together, they wouldn’t have ended up with near as many wins without Samsonov.
Samsonov had a couple small stretches of low quality starts, but those were few and far between and seemingly when he was suffering injuries.
It’s a long season and when you’re starting over half the games, some nagging injuries are common. Ultimately an injury is what ended his season, as Schenn collided with Samsonov when trying to recover from a play that Schenn misread.
Yes Samsonov was down games due to injury, and yes he had a few bad starts, but ultimately he was a positive contributor on this Leafs team, and shut down the Lightning and Vasilevskiy in the playoffs.
Keep an eye out for part 3 of the Toronto Maple Leafs 2022-2023 season player grades as we look at the players the Leafs traded throughout the season.