Washington Capitals: Three Takeaways From Ilya Samsonov’s Rookie Season
By CJ Witt
Three takeaways from Washington Capitals Ilya Samsonov’s rookie season.
Jose Theodore, Semyon Varlamov, Michal Neuvirth, Braden Holtby, and now Ilya Samsonov. Most of those names are not the best names you’ll find when talking about the goaltender position. Especially in the last decade or so. You have the best of the best when talking about Carey Price or Jonathan Quick or maybe even a Tuuka Rask.
The point in listing those names is, the Washington Capitals, for the most part, have not had to worry about the man in between the pipes. A lot of other teams cannot say the same, especially for an extended amount of time, with multiple goalies.
The solid play in net seemingly won’t be coming to an end anytime soon. That thought comes from the solid rookie season from 23-year-old Ilya Samsonov. Samsonov’s final stat line for the season will look like this, 16-6-2, 2.55 Goals Against Average and a .913 Save Percentage.
That’s a solid season for anybody. Not to mention a 23-year-old rookie. It was a heck of a season for Samsonov, here are 3 things to takeaway from him first season in the NHL.