Ilya Samsonov Won’t Be Back With The Golden Knights

Ilya Samsonov Won’t Be Back With The Golden Knights

Ilya Samsonov was unplayable last year, and it’s not really arguable. After inking just a one year deal with the Golden Knights last offseason, Samsonov will head back to the market and won’t be back in Vegas for the 2025-26 NHL Season.

 Sportsnet’s Luke Fox had the story:

“Ilya Samsonov is not intending to re-sign with the Vegas Golden Knights and will instead test the open market on July 1, Sportsnet has learned.”

Adin Hill: Was The Extension Smart By Vegas?

Vegas already has a contingency plan in place. Akira Schmid is going to be the primary backup this year. Frankly, people should have already seen that coming because Schmid was dressed for the postseason run when Samsonov was not. It was pretty obvious Vegas was going in this direction for a while. We just have the firm news story to make it official now.

Samsonov, 28, posted a 16-9-4 record last year, but that doesn’t really tell the story. To win that many games with a .891 save percentage is disgusting. Vegas knows they can do better if they even get league-average production out of Schmid. They already have Hill and Schmid marked for a combined $7.125 million heading into 2025-26, and there’s no other reason to spend money at that spot when you’re gearing up to add Mitch Marner.

The good news for Samsonov is that he will get another shot. The goalie market in free agency is borderline dead. The list of names includes Jake Allen, Samsonov, Anton Forsberg, Alexandar Georgiev, Alex Lyon, Dan Vladar, James Reimer, David Rittich, Ville Husso, and Vitek Vanecek.

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