A high salary arbitration award for Ilya Samsonov would be an absolute disaster for the Maple Leafs

PUBLICATION

Mike Armenti
July 23, 2023 (10:15)

SHARE THIS STORY

This past Friday, the Toronto Maple Leafs and goaltender Ilya Samsonov had to endure what, I'm sure, was a very trying salary arbitration hearing. The Leafs had the ability to extend Samsonov as of January 1st, but as former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas had decided not to make a hasty decision, instead using the time that he had ahead of him to see the season through before making a decision. That appears to have been a costly mistake as of this moment.

It was originally thought that Samsonov had filed for arbitration to help the Leafs access a second buyout window, with which to buy out Matt Murray's contract. Well, as it turns out, the real reason he filed was because the team's offer to him was only a modest raise on the $1.8M that he had earned on his "prove it" deal last season. While the Leafs had him pegged as a $2.4M goalie, Samsonov and his camp pushed for a $4.9M deal, which is what the two sides went to arbitration over this week.

The Leafs and Samsonov are expecting his arbitration award to be announced at some point on Sunday afternoon and regardless of how the decision comes down, we know that at least one side will be disappointed with the decision. A low award for Samsonov will have have him feeling underappreciated and underpaid all season long and a large award could mean that the Leafs won't have the financial flexibility to continue to address roster needs this summer, even if they do use their 2nd buyout window to buy out Matt Murray.

There's also the possibility that, if the award comes in closer to the $4.9M that Samsonov is requesting, the team could simply keep Matt Murray and utilize a tandem of Murray and youngster Joseph Woll, walking away from the award and allowing Samsonov to become a free agent immediately. This, of course, can only occur if the award is higher than $4,538,958.

Obviously, nobody wants Samsonov to walk and I don't believe that the Leafs will take that path. However, a high award is certainly something that will hamper the Leafs this summer and perhaps even force them to make a trade that they don't want to make, subtracting from the roster instead of being able to add to what they've already built.