Washington Capitals: Three Takeaways From Ilya Samsonov’s Rookie Season
By CJ Witt
The future looks bright
We’ve already talked about his stats and how good they looked. Those stats could honestly be a little better. From the start of the season all the way up to January 7th, Samsonov was 12-2-1, had a 2.24 GAA and a .921 Save Percentage.
At that same time, the undisputed number one Braden Holtby was 18-8-4, had a 2.99 GAA with a Save Percentage of .901. Samsonov was clearly the better goaltender for more than half of the season.
With the near future of this position in some doubt for the Capitals, the way Samsonov played for most of his rookie season has to be exciting. The Caps are up against the salary cap. They can’t afford all of their key players. It’s just the way the hockey world works now. You have to find spots and positions that you can save some money on while not handicapping your team.
Samsonov will be a cheap option in net for at least the next couple of seasons. His rookie deal ends in 2021-22 and unless he comes in and blows the doors off the league he shouldn’t command a huge deal.
But, for now, throw all the cap concerns out the window. Samsonov has shown he deserves to be an NHL goaltender. If he continues to develop and play like he did for more than half of the season he could be a great NHL goalie and the Capitals will have a a great backstop for many years.