Toronto Maple Leafs: Can Ilya Samsonov Repeat His Success?

It’s been a busy offseason so far for the Toronto Maple Leafs, many players have come and gone, and there could be even more moves on the way.

One guy who remains unsigned is RFA goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who got most of the starts between the pipes for the Toronto Maple Leafs last season.

It was his first season in the blue and white, and he overcame the expectations that were set for him before last year. And while he wasn’t perfect, he gave the Leafs strong goaltending almost every game.

I have no doubts the Toronto Maple Leafs can re-sign him in the next 6 weeks or so, but one question remains in everyone’s head. Can Ilya Samsonov continue his strong play next season?

Toronto Maple Leafs: Can Ilya Samsonov Repeat His Success?

Last season, Ilya Samsonov had his best NHL season to date.

The former first-round pick put up a 27-10-5 record with 4 shutouts, as well as a 2.33 GAA and a .919 SV%. (stats: nhl.com)

Both his GAA and SV% were top-10 in the NHL (stats: quanthockey.com), it was definitely a strong regular season for Samsonov.

However, his playoff performance was a little underwhelming. In last year’s postseason, he put up a .898 SV% and a 3.13 GAA, which wasn’t great.

Even with his less-than-average stats in the playoffs, Samsonov was not the reason whatsoever why the Leafs lost in the second round. He stood on his head numerous times (most notably in games 3 and 6 vs Tampa Bay), as well as getting little-to-no goal support in round 2 vs the Florida Panthers.

Goalies in the NHL are incredibly inconsistent and hard to predict. For example, Linus Ullmark had one of the best seasons ever by a goalie last year but followed it up by getting benched in the playoffs in game 7. And predicting how Samsonov will do next year is even harder considering he’s had a fairly inconsistent career of his own to this point.

If I had to guess, I’d say Samsonov does just fine next season. His stats may drop off a little bit, as he set the bar pretty high this past year, but in all likelihood, he stays the solid goalie he was last season for the Leafs.

I am a fan of Samsonov so far, and many fans and teammates are as well.

It’ll be interesting to see how he does next year, and if Brad Treliving will sign him any time soon.