Maple Leafs Agree to 1-Year Deal with Ilya Samsonov

The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t get a great reaction when they traded for Matt Murray to be their starting goaltender. That may or may not have had something to do with the decision to sign Ilya Samsonov as a backup goaltender when free agency opened up on Wednesday morning. Samsonov was not qualified by the Washington Capitals and $1.8 million is a fairly safe gamble for a player who can probably slot in for 30 games next season.

Samsonov is not a super consistent goalie as he moves around a lot in net. He lacks structure, according to a number of insiders who know goaltenders well. At one point he was viewed as a can’t miss but he certainly didn’t live up to those expectations in Washington. When the Capitals were expected to make a huge play for Darcy Kuemper, they moved on from Samsonov and made a business decision not to qualify him.

Hearing #Leafs have agreed to terms with G Ilya Samsonov on a 1-year, $1.8 million deal.

Toronto has their guy to play alongside Matt Murray in tandem next season.@DailyFaceoff

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 13, 2022

Samsonov, 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, could be heavily relied upon in Toronto depending on how the Murray trade turns out. Petr Mrázek and Jack Campbell are both gone now. The Leafs probably won’t be comfortable until they discover that one of these goalies will work out for them. The signing has upside, but there isn’t proof that both of these players can have bounce-back seasons.

Next: Jack Campbell Signs 5-Year Deal With the Edmonton Oilers