Maple Leafs G Ilya Samsonov sent to AHL to ‘reset,’ won’t play

The Toronto Maple Leafs assigned goaltender Ilya Samsonov to their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, on Tuesday after he cleared waivers.

Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving told reporters that Samsonov is "not practicing at this stage and is not planning to play with the Marlies at this stage."

Instead, the 26-year-old will work one-on-one with the Marlies' goaltending coach as he tries to get right mentally.

Samsonov is 5-2-6 this season with a 3.94 goals-against average and a .862 save percentage, both of which mark career worsts by far. He allowed four, six, five and six goals in his past four outings for the Leafs.

"To me, a lot of what we're seeing, the mental drives the bus a little bit, and it's hard to correct the physical and maybe the technical side when there's a lot going on with him," Treliving said. "So, we're trying to let the air out of the balloon a little bit, give him a bunch of support and just let him reset and use this week as that reset."

In five NHL seasons with the Washington Capitals (2019-22) and Maple Leafs (2022-24), Samsonov is 84-34-19 with a 2.77 GAA and a .903 save percentage.

With Joseph Woll still sidelined by an ankle injury, the Maple Leafs are starting veteran Martin Jones on Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings with Dennis Hildeby backing him up. Hildeby, a 2022 fourth-round draft pick, has never appeared in an NHL game.

—Field Level Media