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.