Re: Washington Capitals
The issue with Samsonov is that he doesn't appear to be NHL-ready at this point. He's obviously got tons of upside, and has had success in the KHL at a very young age, but his transition to North America hasn't gone as planned. In 37 appearances this year with AHL Hershey, Samsonov posted a 2.70 GAA and .898 Sv% -- not great numbers for the AHL rookie. He followed that up with even worse playoff numbers, putting up 2.99 GAA and .897 Sv% in 5 appearances. He's only 22 years old, but he's still got some development ahead in the AHL before he's ready to take over more responsibility.
I think a realistic timeline, assuming he continues to progress in a positive direction with his AHL time, would be some call-ups this year maybe a couple starts. 20-21 he could begin to wrestle with Copley for the backup position, although there are some questions there since Copley is signed through 2021-22 at a $1.1 million cap hit. I doubt the organization would have given that kind of term to a 27-year old career backup if they were fully confident in Samsonov's ability to take the backup job and perform. I'm sure the organizational plan with Samsonov is to get him as many starts as possible in the AHL, get him accustomed to the long, grueling 80+ game schedule in NA pro hockey, and let him dominate in the AHL before getting the backup gig in Washington -- and eventually transitioning into their starter.
The Holtby contract situation is an interesting one, in the sense that I'm really not sure what kind of term Washington will be looking to give him. His last couple regular seasons have been mediocre in terms of Sv% relative to his career numbers, but he is still only a season removed from an incredible Stanley Cup run in which he definitely cemented himself as one of the best playoff goaltenders of this modern era. Seriously, just look at his career numbers in the playoffs. They're positively sick. He will be 30 in September, so there is some question about his age if they are thinking about max term or anything like that. Given his resume, I'm sure he will be looking for an AAV that is comparable to some other top netminders. Not quite Price / Bobrovsky money, but he shouldn't be too far off. I would guess $8.5 million, but if the Capitals try to keep the term down that might result in a higher AAV. Really, this should be an interesting situation to follow because the Holtby extension is going to tell us a lot about how the organization views Samsonov right now.
A shorter deal wouldn't surprise me, maybe something like 4 years x $8.5 million? I would guess Holtby is going to have a great season, re-sign for at least the next 4-5 years, and we'll have our answer with Samsonov. Perhaps by the last year of that deal, Samsonov will be beginning to take over from Holtby.
MounD - Double Threat FHL (18-19 champs)
10-Team Yahoo daily H2H Dynasty
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 6D, 2G, 7Bn (IR)
G, A, +/-, PPP, SHP, SOG, FW, HIT, BLK // W, Sv, GAA, Sv%, SHO
C: Bergeron, Barkov, Aho, Point, Kadri
LW: Marchand, Landeskog, Hertl, Marchessault
RW: Stamkos, Tarasenko, Laine, Palmieri
D: Carlson, Letang, Dumba, Weber, Pietrangelo, Ristolainen, Byfuglien*
G: Bobrovsky, Holtby, Lehner, Greiss-Varlamov
Farm: Turcotte, Cozens, Denisenko, Newhook // Sandin, Jokiharju, Dobson, K'Andre // Shesterkin
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Originally Posted by newper114
