Samsonov settling in as Capitals’ goaltender of future
2015 first-rounder seeing plenty of ice in the pre-season
WASHINGTON, D.C. Ilya Samsonov booked his travel to Washington earlier this summer with the intention of spending more time with Capitals goaltending coach Scott Murray on the ice. But Murray wanted a more immersive way for the two to build their relationship. He suggested Samsonov, his wife and prospect defenceman Alex Alexeyev move in with him for a couple weeks before training camp.
“If you want to get to know someone, that’s not a bad way to do it,” Murray said. “It was important, I think for both of us to learn more about each other and kind of find out some deeper stuff about each other.”
The Samsonovs and Alexeyev stayed in Murray’s house for roughly a week before he joined them for four days, which included home-cooked meals and nights playing Crokinole, a board game popular in Murray’s hometown of Wellesley, Ont., northwest of Waterloo.
For Samsonov, the organization’s 2015 first-round pick and top prospect, it was another step toward getting acclimated as he readies for a full-time move to Washington at some point soon.
This training camp, the Capitals have declared their No. 2 goalie job open, despite having incumbent Phoenix Copley under contract for three more years. Samsonov, 22, was anointed the team’s goaltender of the future as soon as he was drafted and with starter Braden Holtby entering the last season of his contract, Washington has the incentive to get Samsonov NHL experience. “We’re not going to force it,” general manager Brian MacLellan said at the start of training camp. “Based on performance, we’ll evaluate it ...
“We have four good goalies, we feel. We have a lot of depth. (Vitek) Vanecek played well — he was an all-star at the (American Hockey League) level last year, and I’d like to see him get games. I’d like to see Samsonov get games. Copley has continued to improve, so it’s going to be a competitive situation. We’re going to do what’s best for all four of them. We’re going to try to develop a couple guys and we’re going to respect the guys we had last year.”
Vanecek, picked in the second round of the 2014 draft, has the advantage of a low cap hit ($717,000), which could be critical for a Capitals team currently projected to be more than $1.3 million over the NHL’s $81.5-million salary cap when the season starts.
But through three pre-season games, Samsonov has played more than any other goaltender. Holtby is expected to be in net for at least parts of all of Washington’s final three exhibitions, meaning there won’t be too many more opportunities for the other goaltenders. Samsonov seems to impress coach Todd Reirden already.
“His physical attributes are obvious, but just in the net he has a calming influence to him,” Reirden said. “That’s something that you can’t really teach goaltenders and it’s not something they can fake. He looks extremely comfortable and he is going to be an NHL goalie. It’s just when is he going to be that goalie and what’s the right timing for that?”