Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe reveals the plan for Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov this season
The Leafs will enter the 2022-23 season with an entirely new goaltending tandem after Jack Campbell walked away via free agency and Petr Mrazek was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks at the draft. For better or worse, Dubas and company are hitching their wagon to former two-time Stanley Cup winner Matt Murray and 2015 22nd overall draft pick Ilya Samsonov.
In terms of how they will be deployed, it was originally thought that Matt Murray would be given some runway as the team's clear cut number one, but that doesn't actually seem to be the case. Per Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe, the plan is to operate with a bit more of a net-share philosophy until one or the other emerges as the team's true number one. Keefe revealed that labelling a number one goaltender wasn't something that the team ever planned to do during training camp.
Both Murray and Samsonov have struggled in recent seasons, but both players showed flashes of brilliance last year. For Murray, it was playing a short run of games last season as one of the league's top goalies before two brutal starts and an injury derailed his season. For Samsonov, it was posting a solid .912 SV% in the playoffs against a Presidents Trophy winning Florida Panthers team who led the league in scoring last season.
Neither player is coming into this season with the unwavering confidence of Leafs Nation behind them, but a strong start can do a lot in rallying the fanbase behind these two intriguing netminders.
| POLL | ||
21 SEPTEMBRE | 574 ANSWERS Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe reveals the plan for Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov this season Who do you think will get the first start of the season between Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov? | ||
| Samsonov | 137 | 23.9 % |
| Murray | 437 | 76.1 % |
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