Grading Ilya Samsonov’s rookie season with the Washington Capitals.
The other day we gave out predictions for Ilya Samsonov and even broke down what a good second season would be for the Washington Capitals goalie. Today he’s up on player grades and he excelled for a rookie and exceeded expectations.
Samsonov made his NHL debut on Oct. 4, 2019 against the New York Islanders where he made 25 saves on 26 shots for a .962 save percentage. He never looked back as he had a torrid start to the season. We even said he had a chance at the Calder Trophy, which might’ve sounded crazy for some people.
Samsonov won five of his first six starts, and later had a stretch of four straight wins and then seven straight wins. Maybe the Calder Trophy sounded logical after all. But then he hit a brick wall.
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Samsonov dropped four straight and an overtime contest to end his season. His final start was at the New York Rangers on March 5th. Over the offseason, okay I guess we can call it the pause, Samsonov hurt himself while driving an ATV. As a result he wasn’t on the ice when the season restarted so the Caps had to solely rely on Braden Holtby.
The good news is the ATV accident wasn’t too severe. As the Caps are gearing up for the upcoming season at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, Samsonov is out there working on his saves and trading places in net with new goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
Samsonov finished his rookie season starting in 22 games while playing in 26 total. His record was 16-6-2 with a 2.55 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. Samsonov also already has a shutout to his resume.
The Caps selected Samsonov with the 22nd pick in the 2015 NHL Draft and many people dubbed him as the goaltender of the future. The future is now for Samsonov as it will be his net and a new era is set to begin in the crease.
Grade A: Samsonov exceeded our expectations after he impressed the coaches at training camp and beat out Pheonix Copley for the backup spot. We’re ready to see what he can bring for a full season as the number one starter.
His grade would’ve been an A+ had he finished his rookie season strong but a full offseason of training has him ready for his sophomore year where he’ll hopefully excel in his first season as a starter.