TANDEM TESTING

Nicholas D'Agostino

Heading into this offseason the Leafs number one question was goaltending. This offseason, Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas addressed the issue in a bold- yet tactical way.

The Maple Leafs goaltending tandem heading into this season consists of two-time Stanley Cup winning goaltender Matt Murray and former first round pick Ilya Samsonov. Before we break down the pair together, let’s take a look at them individually.

Matt Murray

The last couple of years haven't been so pleasant for noted winner Matt Murray. As we all know Murray won two cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins including one where he was the starter for Pittsburgh in the playoffs. During his time with the Penguins, Murray was a very solid goalie. He was a guy that stayed healthy and gave his team a chance to win almost every night. As a young goalie in Pittsburgh his future seemed very bright, but it all went dark when he signed with the Ottawa Senators.

In 2020 Murray signed a four-year contract with the Senators with an average annual value of 6.25 million. Since Murray was traded to Toronto this offseason he only played 2 seasons with the Sens in which he was not very good at all. In only a combined 47 games in two years, Murray had a combined record of 15 wins, 25 losses and 3 overtime losses. Throughout his time in Ottawa he battled many injuries which resulted in poor play and a short stint in the AHL. I think it’s safe to say that both Murray and the Sens are happy to part ways.

With all this negativity, why would the Leafs want Murray to be their potential starter? The answer is pretty simple. Kyle Dubas, Sheldon Keefe and Matt Murray all know each other from their time with the Soo Greyhounds. Not to mention Jon Elkin-who is a part of the Leafs goaltending staff- has been a personal coach for Matt Murray since he was a young boy.

Kyle Dubas is betting on a bounce back season from Matt Murray and he is betting that with a good Leafs team in front of him, Murray can regain that form that he once had in Pittsburgh. This bet seems to be high risk high reward as Murray can either flourish in Toronto or continue down this uncertain road he is currently on.

Ilya Samsonov

Now Ilya Samsonov is a bit of a different goalie than Matt Murray. Samsonov hasn’t seen the success Murray has early in his career but the important thing to remember is Samsonov is still relatively young at 25 and has potential. As I mentioned before, Samsonov is a former 1st round pick of the Capitals which is where he spent the three seasons.

Early on July 13th, which was the start of free agency, Ilya Samsonov signed a one-year 1.8 million dollar deal with the Leafs to solidify their goaltending tandem. In 89 career games, Samsonov has a 52-22-8 record with a .902 save percentage. Another key difference between Murray and Samsonov is Ilya has been a more consistent and healthy goaltender over the last couple of seasons. Especially last season where he played 44 games for the Caps.

A big reason as to why the Leafs might have been interested in Samsonov is they probably feel that he hasn’t unlocked that potential just yet and a change of scenery just might help him reach that potential. As a former first round pick, Samsonov was in discussions as the next best russian goalie along with the likes of Ilya Sorokin and Igor Shesterkin.

I see this signing as a bit less of a risk then Matt Murray but just about the same reward as I believe that Samsonov could unlock some of that potential and be an impact goalie for the Leafs this year.

Now that we have looked at these goalies separately let’s breakdown the potential tandem the Leafs will have this year. It seems as though both goalies will be given a chance to shine and show what they are made of as Kyle Dubas said that they will be challenging each other for the net starting right out of training camp.

I believe that both of these goalies have starter potential and I think it’s a good thing that they will be pushing each other throughout the season. This should make them successful as they will be focusing on getting better with each and every day.

I think this is what the Leafs envisioned last season with their tandem of Petr Mrazek and Jack Campbell. The only problem was that half the time Mrazek was hurt and the other half he was playing poorly so Jack was the guy pretty much all the time over the course of the entire season. Worst case scenario is that happens with one of the goalies this year, forcing the other goalie to constantly be the starter whether or not they are actually playing well.

In the end, I think that this tandem could be really effective this year as long as both Murray and Samsonov compliment each other.

This tandem has unlimited potential but it also has great risk so it will be interesting to see how this story develops over the course of the season. It won't take long for Leaf fans to see both goalies in action as the Leafs start their season with a back to back against Montreal and Washington.