Following another tough outing that saw him allow six goals to Columbus in an overtime loss, Ilya Samsonov’s short-term future appears to be in question. Jonas Siegel of The Athletic believes (subscription link) that the Maple Leafs can no longer afford to put the netminder in their lineup with how much he has struggled; his save percentage on the season is down to just .862 even though he only has two regulation losses in his 15 starts.
Toronto’s challenge, of course, is that with Joseph Woll likely out for another month and Martin Jones being more of a depth veteran than a viable starter, they don’t really have anyone else to turn to other than prospect Dennis Hildeby or another youngster in the minors. With Hildeby being in his first full AHL campaign though, calling him up this early wouldn’t be ideal. However, Siegel highlights that with how the Maple Leafs’ schedule goes in the next little bit, they wouldn’t have to call on Hildeby much, lessening the risk of exposing him too early to the top level. Promoting him would then allow Samsonov to either accept a conditioning stint with the Marlies or be assigned there pending waiver clearance to try to get back on track.
Siegel also wonders if Jaroslav Halak could make sense in the short term to avoid bringing Hildeby up although it’s worth noting that the Maple Leafs already have seven goalies on an NHL contract. To use Halak, they’d have to make it eight which isn’t an ideal situation to be in. Samsonov had a good first season in Toronto last year, earning a $3.55MM deal for his troubles but his platform year to unrestricted free agency has been nothing short of a disaster so far.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- The Sabres announced (Twitter link) that head coach Don Granato will miss today’s game versus Columbus due to illness. Instead of using an assistant in the interim head coaching role, Buffalo has recalled Rochester’s head coach Seth Appert who will be in charge behind the bench. Appert is in his fourth season with the Amerks who also play tonight but will have assistants Vinny Prospal and Nathan Paetsch split the coaching duties for that contest.
- Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev took part in practice on Friday but was only able to make it through about half the session, relays Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times. As a result, the 25-year-old won’t make his return to the lineup tonight against the Rangers. Sergachev has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury and has 19 points in 33 games so far this season while playing nearly 23 minutes a night.
Man Sammy last night looked awful. Ya some of those goals weren’t on him but at some point you have to stop some of those goals. A .500 save percentage is never a good thing
he’s just whiffing on easy shots. it also appears his poor goalie positioning is catching up as teams are now realizing he cheats to the blocker side
Is Granato the man to get the job done in Buffalo>?
They are sooooo inconsistent!!!
That’s a very interesting way to find a backup coach by the Sabres; especially with the Amerks also playing.
Is Appert getting a casting call for the time when a coaching change is needed. DG is a very nice guy, and he knows hockey better than most/all who will read this. But DG’s style appears to have a short shelf life.
Wouldn’t surprise me. It’s either a try out or the Sabres don’t have enough trust in either assistant on Granato’s staff.
Sabres made a huge mistake in letting Peca go to NYR
Eric Comrie is available for half retained & a next available 2nd or 3rd Toronto ;)
Why would Toronto give ANYTHING up for Comrie when they’ll be able claim him for free within the next week and can open up the space by waiving Samsonov and sending him down to the Marlies and have Woll coming back soon too?