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Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving provided an update on the club’s goaltending situation and the approach they are taking with the recently demoted Ilya Samsonov. Treliving said that the plan for Samsonov is not to play in the AHL immediately, to give the 26-year-old a physical and mental reset, and work with former NHL goalie Hannu Toivonen and the club’s development staff.
"Ilya has gone through a difficult time and when you go through this, you look at a couple of options. You either keep doing what you're doing, which is an option and try to work through it, or do something different" Treliving said. “We're trying to just let the air out of the balloon a little bit. Give him a bunch of support, just let him reset, and use this week is that reset. We know there's a good goalie there, he shown that in the past."
The Leafs GM did not put any timeline on how long Samsonov will be in a reset limbo, saying that the club will check back after they return from California and see where things stand. Treliving indicated that the Leafs were not scared to promote youngster Dennis Hildeby in this situation, since the 22-year-old has played very well with the Toronto Marlies, but they are cognizant of the fact that he has limited professional experience and that they will be careful in how they use him.
The Leafs are still open to adding goaltending help from outside the organization, but Treliving’s answer to that question was consistent with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman’s report over the weekend that Toronto is not anxious to expend their limited assets on a goalie in the trade market with Joseph Woll coming back. The Leafs GM was hesitant on a timeline for Woll’s return, but he said they might have a better idea next week.
Treliving was equally hazy when questioned about injured Matt Murray’s recovery and timeline from double hip surgery.
"He's still got he's got a ways to go, but everything's been really positive in terms of no setbacks or or he's been on track, and things are going well."
Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that veteran Martin Jones will get the start against his former club, the Los Angeles Kings, but said that the starter for the second of back-to-back against Anaheim will depend on how Jones feels on Wednesday.
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Auston Matthews was recognized for his excellent December by being named the NHL’s Second Star of the Month.
Matthews led the NHL with 15 goals in 12 games and had 21 points in December, third in the league behind First Star of the Month Nathan MacKinnon and Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov.
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