What to expect from Samsonov/Vanacek this season?

[BranDOOM]

I own both Samsonov and Vanacek my league in signature, and am wondering what to expect from the tandem this year.

Last season was a bit of a roller coaster for Sams with breaking protocols, out for a period of time due to covid, and Vanacek largely playing pretty well between the pipes. I kept him last year and hoped he would fully step into the starters role. Fast forward one year I'm wondering the same thing. Is Sams the clear starter?.. are we looking at 1A/1B scenario? Samsonov's stats weren't great at 2.69 GAA and .902 sv%.. is it reasonable to expect an improvement? Interestingly, Vanacek was almost identical at 2.69 and .908 (37 GP vs 19).

I can keep Samsonov at $11 while Vanacek is $6. My gut tells me the talent Sams has gives him the edge, and hopefully he's ready to roll.

Thoughts?

[pmorrow]

A lot of things went wrong for Samsonov last year. He got injured in the offseason which hurt his training, then he recovered and was thrust into the starters job with massive expectations. And due to covid and a tighter schedule you had very little in the way of training camp and practicing. And got in trouble with the team for violating covid protocol. I expect better of him this year but Vanacek should still probably play 40%ish of the games if not more if Samsonov stumbles.

[RizzeeDizzee]

Washington did make a deal to get Vanacek back. I think they still envision Samsonov as their long term netminder of the future; however, I think they intend to ease him into things, with Vanacek getting close to 50% of the starts. I'd sort of analogize it to the way the Varlamov and Sorokin split went last season in terms of no one guy being "the guy."

[Feenom]

Samsonov will be given every chance possible to prove he can be a #1. So for me I would keep him and hope he rights the ship. Good luck.

[BranDOOM]

This is where my head is at as well. My plan of attack, keep Samsonov at $11, and redraft Vanacek late in draft (hopefully cheap) to lock down the tandem. Thanks all!

[Swarley]

This is where my head is at as well. My plan of attack, keep Samsonov at $11, and redraft Vanacek late in draft (hopefully cheap) to lock down the tandem. Thanks all!

good plan

[stevegamer]

This is where my head is at as well. My plan of attack, keep Samsonov at $11, and redraft Vanacek late in draft (hopefully cheap) to lock down the tandem. Thanks all!

I agree that you can likely get Vanecek cheaper than $6. Are there enough starting goalies out there that you can get Samsonov or an equivalent for under $11?