Golden Knights sign Samsonov to 1-year deal

The Vegas Golden Knights signed free-agent goaltender Ilya Samsonov to a one-year deal Monday.

The contract is worth $1.8 million, according to The Athletic's Jesse Granger.

Samsonov spent the last two seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He struggled mightily to start the 2023-24 campaign and was placed on waivers in January after posting a 5-2-6 record, a .862 save percentage, and 3.94 goals against average.

The 27-year-old fared much better upon his return to the NHL, finishing the regular season on an 18-5-2 run to go along with a .904 save percentage and 2.70 goals against average.

Samsonov registered a .896 save percentage and 3.01 goals against average in five playoff games this spring as the Maple Leafs were bounced from the first round by the Boston Bruins.

He enjoyed a career year with Toronto in 2022-23, logging 27 wins, a .919 save percentage and a 2.33 goals against average.

The Capitals selected him 22nd overall in the 2015 NHL Draft, and Samsonov spent the first three years of his career there.

The Russian owns an all-time save percentage of .904 across 171 NHL games.

The Golden Knights may ride a tandem of starter Adin Hill and Samsonov after trading Logan Thompson to the Capitals. They also acquired Akira Schmid from the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, but they didn't tender him a qualifying offer.

Vegas also announced that it signed restricted free-agent forward Pavel Dorofeyev and defenseman Kaedan Korczak to two-year contracts.

Dorofeyev's deal carries a cap hit of $1.835 million, while Korczak's is worth $825,000 annually, per Granger.

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