New Leafs goaltender takes to social media, shares his excitement to be playing in Toronto this coming season

However, when the Washington Capitals decided not to qualify 25-year-old Ilya Samsonov, making him a UFA, there were many in Leafs Nation who were crossing their fingers that GM Kyle Dubas could pull a rabbit out of his hat and snag the goalie that Caps goalie coach Olaf Kolzig once called "the next Andrei Vasilevskiy". Much to the delight of Leafs fans, he did just that, signing Samsonov to a 1-year, $1.8M deal. Samsonov will still be an RFA when his current deal ends.

Though some time has elapsed since day one of free agency, Samsonov finally took to social media on Sunday to express his excitement to come to Toronto and to play for an Original Six team in front of "the most passionate fans in the league". It's safe to say we love this guy already.

Samsonov didn't have a strong season in 2021-22, but he did finish strong, posting a .912 SV% across 5 playoff games for the Caps against the Presidents Trophy winning Florida Panthers. Hopefully Curtis Sanford and the newly re-vamped goaltending department can work with Samsonov to help him re-discover some of that magic that led to him being drafted 22nd overall in 2015. If he can return to form and put together a respectable season and something to build off of, it wouldn't be surprising to see Samsonov's next deal with the Leafs end up being a lot longer than just 1 season.