On Tuesday, goaltender Ilya Samsonov finally practiced with the Toronto Marlies after being sent down to the AHL club more than a week ago. However, there were no reported plans in place to have him play with the AHL club.
That’s probably because the Marlies knew the Maple Leafs were about to call him up. On Wednesday morning, Toronto has called up Samsonov and sent down backup Dennis Hildeby to the AHL.
On Tuesday night, before the team's announcement this morning, Chris Johnston reported on the latest edition of Insider Trading on TSN that the Maple Leafs were still being cautious with Samsonov and a possible return to the NHL.
“Well, at this stage, the Leafs continue to exercise a lot of caution and a lot of care as Ilya Samsonov rebuilds his game, attempts to rebuild the confidence that had clearly been lost through the first part of this NHL season.
“And as much as I get the sense the Leafs would like to have a nice rolled-out plan for how this is going to go, that plan remains very much day-to-day, and they’re making sure not to put too much on Samsonov’s plate here because they’re hoping at some point down the line, he’s going to be an option for the Leafs again.”
It seems like the time is now, though I assume Samsonov will come up as a backup for Martin Jones, who has been stellar since the Russian goalie was placed on waivers on January 1st. The Maple Leafs have leaned exclusively on Jones in the New Year as Joseph Woll remains sidelined. Woll still remains weeks away from a return to action after suffering a high-ankle sprain on Dec. 7. Jones, who started again vs. the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, earned a 7-1 win and now having a record of 8-3-0 on the season with a .934 save percentage and a 1.98 goals-against average.
And so, Samsonov is back, but when will he take over the cage, that remains to be seen…
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