Headlines

  • Columbus Blue Jackets Acquire Damon Severson In Sign-And-Trade
  • Columbus Blue Jackets Acquire Ivan Provorov As Part Of Three-Team Trade
  • Anaheim Ducks Name Greg Cronin Head Coach
  • Montreal Canadiens Extend Cole Caufield
  • Mike Babcock Expected To Be Named Blue Jackets Head Coach
  • Pittsburgh Penguins Name Kyle Dubas President Of Hockey Operations
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Ilya Samsonov

July 13, 2022 at 10:28 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 8 Comments

11:00 AM Per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Maple Leafs have signed Samsonov to a one-year deal worth $1.8MM. Toronto has now confirmed a Murray-Samsonov tandem for 2022-23.

10:28 AMThe Toronto Maple Leafs may have found their second goaltender, as Arthur Staple of The Athletic links them to Ilya Samsonov. The former Washington Capitals netminder was not given a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent this summer, putting him on the open market.

Samsonov, 25, hasn’t lived up to his first-round draft position just yet but carries the kind of massive upside that a team like the Maple Leafs have to swing for at this point in free agency. They already acquired Matt Murray from the Ottawa Senators, hoping they could bring out the level that helped him to two Stanley Cup championships in Pittsburgh, and now they’ll bring in another inconsistent netminder hoping to unlock hidden talent.

Selected 22nd overall in 2015, Samsonov had a strong rookie season for Washington in 2019-20 but has been putting up worse and worse numbers ever since. This year he had an .896 save percentage in 44 appearances, obviously not good enough for the Capitals to retain him as their starter moving forward.

Still, he had an okay performance in the postseason, and that’s what the Maple Leafs are focused on. The team simply has to find a way through the first round and with a Murray-Samsonov tandem there is at least the potential for excellent goaltending.

It is a risk though, and likely an expensive one. There is a real chance that both netminders fail to find another level and give the Maple Leafs sub-.900 goaltending all year long.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

Toronto Maple Leafs Ilya Samsonov

Nashville Predators Sign Devin Cooley, Jimmy Huntington
Main
Edmonton Oilers Discussing Connor Brown Trade
View Comments (8)
newest oldest

Comments

  1. Jaysfan1981

    11 months ago

    Need someone to man the pipes with Murray going on the IL more often than Campbell

    Could be the best year to be a Leaf fan, or this could be the early 80s all over again

    Reply
  2. bigdaddyt

    11 months ago

    Okay depending on the cap hit I’m okay with this, rather Ilya than Murray. Would assume it would be a 40/40 split

    Reply
  3. MoneyBallJustWorks

    11 months ago

    this would be a good move. the numbers haven’t been amazing last couple years but has the ability to be a top guy and the leafs are only asking for one of the two to be the guy come playoffs but likely both to play at least 30+

    Reply
  4. 66TheNumberOfTheBest

    11 months ago

    I guessed they might do this…

    Signing Murray is a bad move. Signing Samsonov is a bad move.

    BUT…signing both, I actually like. Upside, pedigree and TWO rolls of the dice, they could have done a lot worse, actually.

    Reply
    • DarkSide830

      11 months ago

      Agreed there. Certainly risks taken here, but perhaps it’s best they were taken together.

      Reply
  5. Bucky76

    11 months ago

    Not good enough in goal…Murray will not reach 40 games…Mark it…

    Reply
    • MoneyBallJustWorks

      11 months ago

      sure but samsonov could play 50.

      it’s not a best case scenario for sure but samsonov for 40+ is better than Comrie for 40+ at the same number.

      Reply
    • sessh

      11 months ago

      He could play 50, but unless he improves his consistency and his mental game, he’s not gonna lead the Leafs to the playoffs. His numbers have declined each year he’s been in the league and had his worst year last year despite playing just as many games as he did in the previous two seasons combined.

      Murray hasn’t played more than 38 games in three seasons and hasn’t even hit 30 games in two straight seasons with league average performance when he did play.

      I’m not really a Leafs fan, but this is a high stakes gamble they’re making here. Chances are pretty high that both these guys fail to deliver. If either one has a chance to pull through, it’s probably Samsonov. He could be pretty good if he could just get it together, but has not yet shown the ability to do so.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Columbus Blue Jackets Acquire Damon Severson In Sign-And-Trade

    Columbus Blue Jackets Acquire Ivan Provorov As Part Of Three-Team Trade

    Anaheim Ducks Name Greg Cronin Head Coach

    Montreal Canadiens Extend Cole Caufield

    Mike Babcock Expected To Be Named Blue Jackets Head Coach

    Pittsburgh Penguins Name Kyle Dubas President Of Hockey Operations

    Toronto Maple Leafs Hire Brad Treliving

    Nashville Predators Expected To Fire John Hynes, Hire Andrew Brunette

    Washington Capitals Name Spencer Carbery Head Coach

    Calgary Flames Name Craig Conroy General Manager

    Recent

    Free Agent Focus: Seattle Kraken

    Snapshots: Pesce, Third Overall Pick, Florida Everblades

    Devils Notes: Wood, Bahl, Boqvist

    Panthers Notes: Hornqvist, Luostarinen, Gaber

    Minor Transactions: 6/10/23

    Pacific Notes: Kahkonen, Bear, Lavoie

    Connor Hellebuyck Reportedly Unwilling To Sign Extension With Jets

    Central Notes: Dubois, Stars, Blues Assistants

    Offseason Checklist: Boston Bruins

    Canadiens Notes: Montembeault, Hart, Monahan, Galipeau

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Coyotes Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version