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Toronto Maple Leafs Samsonov Gets New Deal, More Changes to Come?

By Richard Jelinek

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JUNE 28: Brad Treliving of the Toronto Maple Leafs attends the 2023 NHL Draft at the Bridgestone Arena on June 28, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JUNE 28: Brad Treliving of the Toronto Maple Leafs attends the 2023 NHL Draft at the Bridgestone Arena on June 28, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs solved one problem on Sunday as goaltender Ilya Samsonov was awarded a one-year deal with an AAV of $3.55 million and the goaltending duo is now set with Matt Murray. However, there are problems that remain and the questions are plentiful. The roster the Maple Leafs now is not the roster that will take the ice on night one of the 2023/2024 season.

Tough Decisions ahead for the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Samsonov and his new deal is right in the middle of what he wanted and what the Maple Leafs wanted to pay him. Samsonov wanted a deal with an AAV of $4.9 million while the Maple Leafs wanted to pay $2.4 million. During the 2022/2023 NHL season, Samsonov played extremely well. He posted a record of 27-10-5 with a .919 save percentage and a GAA of 2.33. His GAA was a career low and his save percentage and wins were career highs. In the playoffs, he did not fare as well, posting a 4-4 record with a .898 save percentage and a 3.13 GAA. Samsonov signed a one-year free agent deal with an AAV of $1.8 million  in July 2022. With the new contract for Samsonov, does he now go into the new season as the starter for Toronto?

For Toronto, this is one less problem they have for the rest of the off-season. The focus for general manager Brad Treliving is to get this roster under the cap and ready for next season. The Maple Leafs have roster issues that need to be dealt with sooner than later and before the first drop of the puck.  As of right now, the Maple Leafs cap situation is not good. They have a projected cap space of -$12.381 million. Negative $12 million. They do have to be cap compliant before the season of course. Plenty of moves could be made before then to get this roster ready for a new challenge this season, going beyond the second round. Does Toronto trade Mitch Marner and/or William Nylander to open up cap space? Do they trade a big package for defenseman Erik Karlsson? General manager Treliving has made some roster changes this off-season but the fct remains the team is way over the cap. This can only mean that changes, possibly big changes, are coming in the short time we have left in the off-season.

Speaking of those changes, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost a few players in free agency. Forwards Ryan O’Reilly (Nashville Predators), Noel Acciari (Pittsburgh Penguins), Michael Bunting (Carolina Hurricanes),  and Alex Kerfoot (Arizona Coyotes) all found new homes. Also finding new addresses are defensemen Luke Schenn (Nashville Predators), Erik Gustafsson (New York Rangers), and Justin Holl (Detroit Red Wings).

The Maple Leafs were also adding pieces to the current roster. New to the roster are forwards Tyler Bertuzzi, Ryan Reaves, Max Domi, and Dylan Gambrell, and defesneman John Klingberg. These moves may or may not work out and it is too soon to tell. They are players who are proven NHL players who fill needs on the roster. The Maple Leafs will need to make at least one more move for cap reasons. The Atlantic Division looks to be much better and deeper than last season so the Toronto Maple Leafs have their work cut out for them.

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