When the new year began, the Toronto Maple Leafs shocked the NHL when they placed goaltender Ilya Samsonov on waivers. The plan was never to try to have him claimed, but as GM Brad Treliving and head coach Sheldon Keefe explained, it was simply a "reset" and to get him away from all of the noise.
After 10 days away from the team, just working with development coaches, Samsonov returned, and although he lost his first game back, he has largely looked like last year's version of himself. Yesterday, Hockey Night in Canada's Ron MacLean was on 'Leafs Morning Take' and praised Samsonov for working his way back, but gave credit to an unlikely and surprising person for the idea of getting him away from the spotlight of Toronto.
It was surprising to hear MacLean acknowledge that it was his co-host Kelly Hrudey that pushed Treliving and Keefe to remove Samsonov from the spotlight, but it was clearly needed. Prior to being placed on waivers, Samsonov was 5-2-6 but had a .858 save percentage and whopping 3.93 GAA in 15 games from October to December. Since returning, he has gone 12-3-0 and posted 2.13 GAA and .920 save percentage in 15 games. If Sammy can continue down this path come playoff time, the Leafs might actually have a chance to not only get out of the first round, but get out of the second round as well, assuming that their star players show up and play like star players.
