SIGNING ALERT | Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender awarded one-year deal by arbitrator

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Cooper Godin
July 23, 2023 (2:10 PM)

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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov has been awarded a one-year contract worth $3.55 million by an independent arbitrator.

"The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that the hockey club has received a salary arbitration decision for goaltender Ilya Samsonov of one year at $3.55 million."

Samsonov and the Maple Leafs were reportedly not close on an extension as of last week, which led to both parties going forward with Friday's arbitration hearing. Going into the hearing, Samsonov's camp filed at $4.9 million, while the Maple Leafs countered with $2.5 million.

Now that Samsonov's contract has been awarded, the Maple Leafs have 48-hour buy-out window they can use, if they want. Even after using LTIR this Fall, the Maple Leafs will be over the NHL's salary cap by $6.7 million, so it's likely that they'll use this buy-out window. It's possible they use it on goaltender Matt Murray, as has been rumoured for a while now.

Samsonov, a native of Magnitogorsk, Russia had a strong first season with the Maple Leafs. In 42 games, he had a record of 27-10-5 with a 2.33 goals against average, a .919 save percentage and four shutouts.