Meet Ilya Samsonov, the quirky, bubbly new Maple Leafs goalie with something to prove
Ilya Samsonov is stepping under a microscope in a way he hasn’t before in his professional career.
theathletic.com
Samsonov is under no illusion: He knows his NHL career to this point hasn’t met expectations, and that improvement in his game is still needed. He wants to improve his footwork and his body positioning close to goal.
To make those improvements, he approached his summer differently.
“A lot of small pieces,” he said about the various changes he made to his offseason. “I’m building a puzzle.”
He stayed in the United States for the entire summer. He had family come to stay with him and once he processed the end of the season, he began a new workout regimen that “kills you.”
Days would be filled with yoga sessions to improve his flexibility. He sought the advice of a newly-hired nutritionist to become lighter on his feet. And he began boxing nearly every day with a personal trainer.
“It was really interesting. It helps with your movement and your reaction time. When you’re tired, you need to work on your reaction,” Samsonov said.
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“It’s not every day, it’s not every year that Toronto tries to sign a contract with you,” he said.
There were other suitors for Samsonov, but when he called former Leafs, including Ilya Lyubushkin and Ilya Mikheyev to pick their brains about the reality of playing in Toronto, they came back with only positive reviews. “If you’re ready, this is a good opportunity for you,” Samsonov recalls being told.
Conversations with Dubas resonated. The Leafs believed in giving him a chance to prove himself once again. They were upfront about how much they could offer him on a one-year deal.
Samsonov seemed to appreciate the honesty.
“The thing that stood out to me more than anything was that he really wanted it to be a one-year, ‘Show me, bet on yourself’ type of deal, which is not always common with players coming off of the shock of being non-qualified when he wasn’t expecting it,” Dubas said after free agency. “That was impressive to me, combined with the evaluation of our player personnel department and goaltending department of what he can become if we can work with him and get him on the right track.”
When it is suggested to Samsonov that playing in Toronto could increase the eyeballs on him and, with strong results, lead to a lucrative long-term deal elsewhere, he furrows his brow for the only time during our conversation.
“I want to stay here for a long time,” he said. “My mission is to get better and better every day and we’ll see what’s going on. I don’t think about it being just a one-year contract.”
The opportunity to rediscover his joy for the game is one he’s not taking lightly. And that joy will only grow, one would assume, if positive results come as well.
If it’s an opportunity Samsonov wants, he could very well get it in Toronto in a big way. Despite being perceived at first as the backup to Murray, both Dubas and Sheldon Keefe are leaving the matter of who starts the lion’s share of games open to the two goalies. Their performance will dictate who plays more, though a true tandem and splitting the games as close to the middle as possible also seems like a viable option for the Leafs.
I ask him if he sees himself taking over the goal for the Leafs eventually.
“We both want to play a lot,” Samsonov said. “So it’s a nice opportunity for us. I met with Matt and he’s a nice guy. We’re trying to push each other. Opportunity is why you come to the rink and work hard every day.”
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