Leafs starting goaltender for tonight's game in Vegas confirmed
Following a pair of wins in which he had to be extremely sharp against both the Dallas Stars and the Winnipeg Jets, the Leafs are turning back to Ilya Samsonov on Monday for their first late start of the season (10pm ET).
The Samsonov deal could not have worked out better for the Buds in the early going this season, especially after an injury to Matt Murray has had him on the sidelines since his first game of the season. Samsonov is currently 4-0-0, with a 1.73 GAA and a .938 SV%. Not only that, but he's also just one of 3 goaltenders to begin their Leafs career with four consecutive wins (Trevor Kidd and Frank McCool were the other two).
Samsonov brings something to the Leafs' net that we haven't seen in a while - a calm, poised demeanor. Sure, watching him try to handle the puck can trigger a panic attack at times, but while he's been in the crease, he's been able to remain calm, cool and collected, playing sound positional hockey and has made the stops that he has needed to make.
I've been saying this since Samsonov was essentially jettisoned by the Caps - a lot of European goaltenders need time to adjust to the speed of the NHL and when we see these young Russian goaltenders come over, such as Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ilya Sorokin and Igor Shesterkin, the hype they bring with them can also be a detriment to them. The pressure of playing goal in the NHL is already intense. When they're expected to be superstars right out of the gate, that adds another layer of pressure. In Samsonov's case, being compared to Sorokin, Shesterkin and Vasilevskiy put even more pressure on him.
However, at just 25 years-of-age (soon to be 26), Samsonov is in that same age range that Sorokin and Shesterkin were in when they experienced their breakout seasons. Perhaps what we're witnessing now is just Samsonov coming into his own and entering his prime years as a goaltender - which would be an absolute gift for the Leafs, who signed him to a 1-year, $1.8M deal as a UFA this summer. They'll also retain his rights next summer as an RFA, though he will have arbitration rights.
Honestly, if Samsonov ends up being a consistent .920 or better goaltender this season, I'd anticipate that the Leafs won't have any problems with extending him long before he's due a new deal next summer. It's been awhile since the Buds have had a solid, young goalie to lean on who is capable of stealing games. I can't imagine they're going to want to let go of the first one they find in a couple of decades.
| POLL | ||
24 OCTOBRE | 291 ANSWERS Leafs starting goaltender for tonight's game in Vegas confirmed Should the Leafs try to sign Samsonov to a lengthy extension by Christmas? | ||
| Yes | 118 | 40.5 % |
| No | 47 | 16.2 % |
| Maybe not by Christmas, but before the summer | 126 | 43.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
