Can the Toronto Maple Leafs rely on Ilya Samsonov?

With Matt Murray injured and the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning now locked in as a round-one matchup for the Stanley Cup playoffs, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discuss whether or not Ilya Samsonov can be relied upon between the pipes. 

Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s head out east and talk about another injury between the pipes for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Matt Murray going down in their game against the Detroit Red Wings, and this has been a common theme for them. Murray has really been struggling to stay healthy in his first season in Toronto. You look at the two numbers, Samsonov has been miles better than Murray, but we talked about this with Mike McKenna on the show last week about how we weren’t sure who was going to end up being the playoff starter. There was always talk that they wanted to get Murray going for that run, even if he is healthy; I don’t know how you can trust him and run him through a seven-game series when I don’t know if he’s even strayed on his feet for seven games at all this season. Samsonov, with the better numbers, seems to be the guy. Do you think the Leafs can trust Samsonov in a playoff series, or is this something where we will talk over the next couple of weeks about what they’re going to do between the pipes? 

Frank Seravalli: He’s all they got! This is going to sound like a hot take, but I promise you it really isn’t; I think that the Matt Murray injury is a blessing in disguise for the Maple Leafs. Now that you know, it’s Samsonov’s cease to run with, and we’re all assuming at this point that since Murray was evaluated for a concussion, he probably is on the shelf for seven days to two weeks. You know that Samsonov now has the ball, and he can run with it; it’s his crease, and there’s no Murray hanging over his shoulder. It’s all going to come down to how Samsonov plays; if he misses multiple weeks, then that would be the third time this season that Murray has been on the shelf for two weeks or more. When you look at Samsonov, it’s not just been the consistency; I think everyone was kind of holding their breath as he came up lame at times and pressed into action on Sunday.

Frank Seravalli: Look at their numbers; I know the Leafs are infatuated about the idea of whether can Murray be hot, look at his pedigree with two Stanley Cups he’s won and etched his name on and a large part due to his play. But I find the injury part, the dependability and reliability, are two giant abilities when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs and winning. But it’s also the actual ability itself to play goal once in net; in the seven games Murray has played since coming back from his last injury, he’s posted a .880 save percentage. The seven games that Samsonov has played in that same stretch of time resulted in a .913 save percentage. It’s not even really a discussion; it’s not really close. I think if you ripped the name bars off the jersey, you’d have a hard time convincing me that if push came to shove during the Stanley Cup playoffs that, Joseph Woll is not a better option in net than Murray if Samsonov were to go down with an injury. That would be the pecking order for me moving forward. It’s great you have that history, but you have to be upright in order to be successful, and Murray has proved time, time and time again that he can’t stay upright.

You can watch the full episode here…