Ilya Samsonov knows fatherhood is going to change his life in a multitude of ways. But with his first son, Miroslav, still less than two weeks old, he just hasn’t experienced a lot of those ways yet.
“Just sleep, poop and eat,” Samsonov said of Miroslav, proving how much the Maple Leafs’ goaltender appreciates brevity.
Advertisement
There will come a time, though, sooner than Samsonov thinks, when he will start communicating with Miroslav in a meaningful way.
“We can talk about hockey, life,” Samsonov said calmly. “I can teach him how to make good decisions.”
View this post on Instagram
Whatever happens in Samsonov’s professional life between now and then remains to be seen, but Samsonov still feels confident that when he looks for examples of what constitutes a good decision, he can present Exhibit A to Miroslav: Signing in Toronto as a UFA, which, at least professionally, has been one of the best decisions of his life.
“I feel perfect here,” Samsonov told The Athletic.
A goaltender feeling “perfect” in Toronto? Who, legitimately, could have seen that coming?
A 2015 first-round pick with an athletic style, Samsonov was never short on talent and pedigree. But given his stumbles with the Capitals and the fact that he wasn’t qualified as an RFA last summer, few expected Samsonov’s transition to Toronto to have gone as smoothly as it has. Though he has been part of a tandem with Matt Murray, Samsonov could come close to matching his career high for games in a season (44). Through 39 games this season, the 26-year-old has matured both off the ice and on it, logging a .915 save percentage, the highest of his career and tied for 11th among NHL goalies this season.
With Murray day-to-day with a recent head injury, it’s looking more and more possible that Samsonov will be in net for the Leafs when their first-round playoff series opens against the Lightning. Samsonov never started Game 1 of a playoff series over his three seasons with the Capitals.
The playoffs will provide the kind of test Samsonov has yet to face all season: At the other end of the ice will be fellow Russian goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who was the better of the two netminders the last time the Lightning and Leafs faced off.
Advertisement
That’s fine by Samsonov. He’s never been in the headspace he now enjoys. It’s through this season in Toronto that he has come to feel more comfortable than ever in who he is and what he’s capable of on the ice.
“We’ve prepared for (the playoffs) over the last month for sure, talking with (goaltender coach Curtis Sanford) all the time,” Samsonov said, the near-constant smile disappearing from his face. “We think about this so there are no questions, no surprises. It’s very serious for us.”
Asking around the Leafs dressing room about Samsonov can be a, um, difficult process.
Hey Morgan Rielly, what’s something I might not know about Samsonov?
“There’s not much, really,” the Leafs defenceman said.
Hey Justin Holl, have you learned anything about Samsonov, your teammate, this season?
“Honestly, not really,” Holl said.
Look, even Samsonov knows he’s something of a lone wolf. And he’s cool with that.
“I’m more by myself because I want to put some pressure on what I do. It’s not because I’m a bad person, I want to concentrate on my game. I don’t want to be in my head and think about what other guys are doing. I want to think about what I’m doing,” he said.
It was established early on in his tenure in Toronto that Samsonov marched to the beat of his own drummer. Immediately, he was relaxed, jovial and wise-cracking in front of the cameras.
“I don’t know if you see his interviews, but he’s very similar to that (off camera),” said Marlies forward and friend Semyon Der-Arguchintsev. “If you have a bad game and then you have a day off, if you hang out with him, you’re in a much better mood.”
He won over fans with his motto, “Have some smiles,” and his good-natured attitude quickly became his calling card.
“(Samsonov) is a goofball, for sure,” said Holl with a smile. “Sometimes he’ll get the (wrestling belt awarded to the Leafs player of the game) and he’ll be like, ‘Great job, big day off tomorrow!’ And then, we don’t have the day off the next day.”
Advertisement
That Samsonov doesn’t hesitate to share his bubbly personality and relaxed take on life has endeared him to his teammates.
“You meet guys along the way who have a language barrier and that prevents them from being social. And that’s not the case with him. He loves being in on the jokes,” Rielly said. “When he does his media, he’s making jokes. He makes comments that prove he’s comfortable talking to the media, and that’s how he is with us.”
Samsonov doesn’t dispute the merits of this attitude.
“I like to joke,” he said. “It’s hard to live if you’re mad all the time.”
What’s most important for Samsonov in his transition to the No. 1 spot in Toronto is how those around him have welcomed and nurtured that attitude. Immediately and then subsequently throughout the rest of the season, he found he had the support of those who mattered to him, perhaps in a way he’d never experienced in the past.
“I feel like the coaches believe in me. (Leafs GM Kyle Dubas), everybody believes in me,” he said.
Asked to reflect on that support, Samsonov eagerly recounts how quickly he was welcomed by teammates and how that welcoming attitude has continued.
Within “five minutes” of him signing, he had a barrage of text messages from the likes of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, welcoming him to the Leafs. It’s that support and comfort that might have been missing through parts of his career. And it might be the secret sauce to a stellar season.
“Sometimes every team isn’t like here. We talk to each other. We try to support each other in the locker room and on the ice, too,” he said.
Samsonov feels the impact of this belief and support around him “in the head.” It’s allowed him to help manage his emotions and not get pulled too high up or too far down with strong, or questionable, performances.
The book on Samsonov when he arrived in Toronto was that he was prone to strong starts but his performances would taper off as the season wore on. Only during one calendar month this season, March, did his save percentage dip below .900. But otherwise, he’s been the picture of consistency, logging a .913 save percentage or above in every other calendar month. In the process, the external conversation about whether he should start in the playoffs has grown louder.
Advertisement
Beneath his light-hearted exterior, this season Samsonov has developed a newfound sense of resilience in one of the loudest markets for a goalie in the NHL.
“It’s a good question because a lot of goalies have had a tough time in Toronto, right?” said teammate and friend David Kampf when asked why he believes Samsonov’s transition to the Leafs has been relatively smooth. “He’s a strong guy in his mind and he can handle the pressure. That’s the reason he’s done well.”
The life he’s created for himself in Toronto has helped that sense of comfort and therefore hasn’t hurt those performances, either.
So, you might be wondering, what makes a lone wolf like Samsonov tick?
Living downtown Toronto by the waterfront, where he likes to take walks with his wife regardless of the weather, that’s one. But even on those walks, he might quietly be thinking about, or on the lookout for, one of his obsessions: sushi.
Yes, from the moment Samsonov arrived in Toronto in the fall, the city’s downtown sushi establishments probably noticed an uptick in salmon nigiri orders, Samsonov’s favourite.
How often does he order sushi? He lowers his face and raises his eyes,: this is Serious Samsonov talking.
“A lot,” he said. “Seriously, a lot.”
Pressed, he reveals he orders sushi four or five times a week. When his pregnant wife refrained from eating as much raw fish because of health concerns, he would have to keep tucking into boxes upon boxes on his own. To shoulder the load for his sushi obsession, he treated some of his teammates, including fellow sushi fan William Nylander, to a sushi dinner at one of his favourite establishments in Washington before the Leafs’ Dec. 17 game on the road.
When road trips end, Samsonov might not be able to share any sushi with Miroslav, but he’ll still likely be a little more eager to return home to catch his son when he’s awake. And in between eating and, well, the other thing newborns frequently do, maybe Miroslav can catch a glimpse of his father trying to deliver playoff hockey success to a city pining for it.
Advertisement
Samsonov finds himself constantly thinking about Miroslav’s future, what he’s learned in Toronto and how to share that with his son. That future could end up being a lengthy one in Toronto as Samsonov is an RFA at the end of this season. He’s provided very little reason for the Leafs not to extend him for a few more seasons and keep the Samsonovs, including Miroslav, in town.
“I want him to be a good person. That’s the most important thing for me, that he’s a great person first,” Samsonov said of his son.
And then, hopefully, Miroslav too can have some smiles, just like his father has all season and possibly into the postseason.
“He’s got some smiles right now. Well, it’s hard to tell if it’s a smile or what,” Samsonov said, laughing, of course.
(Photo: Kevin Sousa / NHLI via Getty Images)