Ilya Samsonov Had a 'Good Week' But More Concrete Plan Forthcoming From Maple Leafs
Samsonov cleared waivers on Jan. 2 and has been working with Marlies goaltending coach Hannu Toivonen.
Whether Ilya Samsonov returns to the Maple Leafs crease in the short-term future remains to be seen, but the team is happy thus far with his work away from the team.
The 26-year-old has struggled this season in the crease for Toronto. His .862 save percentage is among the worst in the NHL, only behind the Carolina Hurricanes' Antti Raanta.
After Toronto's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 29, where Samsonov allowed six goals on 21 shots, the Maple Leafs decided to place the netminder on waivers on New Year's Day. He cleared the following afternoon.
"We know Ilya's going through a difficult time," Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving said after Samsonov cleared waivers on Jan. 2. "We're going to take this week to try to use it as a reset."
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While the Maple Leafs were on their California road trip, Samsonov worked with Marlies goaltending coach Hannu Toivonen. The 26-year-old didn't practice with the Marlies but had Toivonen all to himself as he got a break from game action.
"He's good at what he does because he cares," Marlies head coach John Gruden said earlier this week of Toivonen. "I've worked with some really good goalie coaches in the National Hockey League and he's got a lot of their qualities."
But now, with the week being finished up, an update on the goaltender was warranted. Treliving briefed the media on Monday while discussing the William Nylander signing.
"Ilya's had a good week. We had a plan in place for him until we got back. He had another session here today," Treliving said. "We're going to huddle here later this afternoon to sort of map out the next piece of that. But, it's been really good. His on-ice and off-ice work has been good.
"We kind of mapped it out through to today (Monday) and then we'll see. I don't know if I'll have an update but we'll have a plan here for the next few days here later this afternoon. But so far so good."
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Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed following Monday's practice that Martin Jones, who won all three games in California with Toronto, putting up a .976 save percentage in that span, would start for the team against the San Jose Sharks Tuesday.
That means Samsonov's eventual return to the Maple Leafs' crease will wait. But as Treliving said on Monday, a plan for the 26-year-old netminder could come down as soon as Tuesday.
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