Ilya Samsonov is running out of chances with the Maple Leafs

BUFFALO — Ilya Samsonov sat alone, his head tilted to the side and stared toward nothing at all.

One week ago, every one of his Maple Leafs teammates had left their dressing room following a wild 6-5 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. But Samsonov remained nearly in full gear, sitting in what looked like a lifeless state.

A few feet away, Auston Matthews tried to talk up his teammate (“That’s one thing about Sammy, he’s a competitor. He doesn’t necessarily get rattled.”) But on the other side of the room, Samsonov painted the picture of a goaltender who, at best, did not have any answers for his recent struggles. And at worst, was broken.

One week later, Samsonov had a chance at redemption.

But in a 9-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, no answers came. Samsonov delivered among his worst performances in a Leafs jersey, allowing five goals on 19 shots before getting pulled in the second period.

Samsonov is mired in what he admitted is one of the toughest stretches of his career, without any signs of promise on the horizon. Among the 43 NHL goalies with at least 14 games played this season, Samsonov’s .871 save percentage is second-last in the league.

And he may be running out of chances to prove himself with the Leafs this season.

“It’s tough right now,” Samsonov said postgame, his voice quivering at times. “I need to figure out everything in my head, that’s the first thing. It’s not about technique, not about nothing. It’s just in the head. That’s what I’m seeing. I need to figure it out.”

The goaltender who could lay claim to being the team’s MVP at points last season has now allowed 15 goals in his last three games. Two of those games were against teams in the Eastern Conference basement.

The hole Samsonov must crawl out of mentally to find his game again seems to get deeper with every performance.

“I want to try to change as quick as I can,” Samsonov said. “But sometimes in life it doesn’t work like that.”

Samsonov isn’t exactly getting beat on excellent scoring chances either. He allowed three goals on 13 shots in the first period totalling an expected goals of 0.72 in all situations, per Natural Stat Trick. In fairness to Samsonov, the team in front of him put up a performance Matthews politely called an “embarrassment,” but there are still very few signs of encouragement from the goaltender right now. Against the Sabres, he slid almost uncontrollably from side to side without much of a plan in place. Samsonov’s movement is erratic to the point that he takes himself out of the play too easily. And the shots from distance that he should be stopping instead left him frozen.

He doesn’t look like a goaltender battling an injury, but instead one battling his conscience.

When Samsonov was mercifully pulled, he bent over on the bench, buried his head between his legs before disappearing down the tunnel and out of sight behind the Leafs’ security guard.

At his best last season, there was an air of lighthearted confidence to Samsonov. He appeared happy with where he was, free of the weight of the world on his shoulders. This season, at least in conversation, Samsonov sounds far more timid and reserved. Samsonov looks like a player questioning every decision on the ice. And, as he alluded to earlier in the season, questioning himself, too.

“If I’m saying I feel great, it’s not true,” Samsonov said on Oct. 27. “I feel (like) s—.”

Asked after the loss to the Sabres if he was concerned about Samsonov’s mental state, Sheldon Keefe said “(Concern) is not the right way to frame it.”

“We need to be very aware of it and we need to help him through this,” Keefe said.

Nevertheless, what has to be most concerning for Keefe is that even if he wanted to make a serious change in goal, he isn’t rich with options.

Joseph Woll is out with a high ankle sprain and is still likely multiple weeks away from emerging on skates. And even then, rushing him back into games can’t be the immediate option given his recent injury history.

As excellent as Dennis Hildeby has played as an AHL rookie this season, posting a .927 save percentage, the 22-year-old is just that: an AHL rookie. If the Leafs aren’t playing the long game and thinking about Hildeby solely as an option down the road, they’re making a mistake. Rushing Hildeby into NHL games and messing with his confidence feels like a dangerous proposition.

Keith Petruzzelli is now the fourth goalie on the depth chart with Woll out, but his .879 save percentage through eight AHL games this season doesn’t scream for an NHL call-up.

Martin Jones was always the fallback option with the Marlies as the third goalie on the organization’s depth chart, and now he’s the de facto starter. In relief of Samsonov, he allowed four goals on 15 shots against the Sabres.

When Woll eventually returns, that’s when the difficult choice comes for Keefe and the team’s coaching staff: return Jones to the AHL, or move him into the second spot on the depth chart ahead of Samsonov?

So until then, what can the Leafs do?

Once the NHL’s roster freeze ends on Dec. 28, they could loan Samsonov to the Marlies on a two-week conditioning stint. But Samsonov would need to agree to the loan.

And even then, they’d be backing themselves into a corner, with two back-to-backs in the following six days. Are they really in a position where they would willingly play Hildeby, for example, that much, that soon?

They could also simply waive Samsonov and send him down to the Marlies. There he could potentially play as much as possible to try to restore his game. But that’s a dangerous bet too: Leafs management would be messing with a player whose confidence is already low. Keefe doesn’t need to go back very far in the history of Leafs goalies to see how poorly Jack Campbell’s current stint with the Bakersfield Condors is working out.

Maybe Brad Treliving will keep a close eye on the waiver wire if a goalie appears and makes a claim to buy Samsonov some more time to recover mentally. That’s an option, and certainly a more appealing one than packaging some assets together and trading for a band-aid solution in goal. Other teams around the league are in more desperate need of a goalie and might outbid the Leafs anyway.

Perhaps then the most likely course of action is to wait, and to hope. Jones will likely get the nod on Dec. 23 and Dec. 27, giving Samsonov another full week off.

“We’ve got to play better in front of (Samsonov),” Keefe said. “Give him a chance. Give him a chance to find himself. He’s going to do his work with (Leafs goaltender coach Curtis Sanford), and he’s been doing his work. When he’s in the net, the guys in front of him need to give him a chance.”

Yes, it’s a results-oriented business, but no one on the Leafs should lose sight of what Samsonov is dealing with.

He deserves support from the organization, and the only option right now seems to be for Samsonov and the Leafs to work together to find a way to push past his struggles.

“It’s tough for me,” Samsonov said. “But I will be fighting.”

At the end of the night in Buffalo, Samsonov quietly walked out of the KeyBank Center wearing a black toque, saying nothing to those standing nearby. He was alone with his thoughts, which undoubtedly have gone to a place he didn’t think he’d be in a year ago.

(Photo: Timothy T. Ludwig / USA Today)