Ilya Samsonov officially leaves Leafs for Western Conference

The Toronto Maple Leafs officially moved on from goaltender Ilya Samsonov, as they extended Joseph Woll with a new contract as well as inking now-former Florida Panthers backup goaltender Anthony Stolarz to a new deal. 

And now, Samsonov has found his next professional home. According to multiple reports, he's agreed to sign with the Vegas Golden Knights for the 2024-24 season: 

He'll go down in team history as the first goaltender since Ed Belfour in 2004 to lead the Leafs to a series win in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but he faltered during the 2023-24 regular season, and was even waived at one point before coming back and playing better. 

However, he would find himself being replaced in net in Round 1 of the postseason against the Boston Bruins by Joseph Woll, who immediately reversed Toronto's fortunes with wins in Game 5 and 6; an untimely injury forced the return of Samsonov for Game 7, a 2-1 overtime loss. 

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