{"id":20129,"date":"2017-12-13T02:27:45","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T07:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=20129"},"modified":"2017-12-13T02:31:35","modified_gmt":"2017-12-13T07:31:35","slug":"ilya-samsonov-an-exciting-visitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2017\/12\/13\/ilya-samsonov-an-exciting-visitor\/","title":{"rendered":"Ilya Samsonov Receives an Exciting Visitor From Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Young goaltender <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2017\/08\/23\/tsp-washington-capitals-prospects\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>Ilya Samsonov<\/strong><\/a> receives an exciting visitor, in Russia this week, in the form of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/capitals\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Washington Capitals<\/a>\u00a0general manager <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/maclebr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brian MacLellan<\/a>. This 20-year-old top prospect was selected as first round pick in the 2015 draft. His contract finishes with Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Kontinental Hockey League) in the spring. Sport-Express\u2019s Igor Eronko and TSN&#8217;s Bob McKenzie reported on the visit.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Caps?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Caps<\/a> GM Brian Maclellan is in Moscow to talk to Ilya Samsonov&#39;s camp. He&#39;s contract with Magnitka will end on April 30<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IgorEronko\/status\/940590067466297345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 12, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tho nothing can be signed, sealed and delivered until end of season, due to KHL contract, reasonably safe to believe Ilya Samsonov will be on an NHL contract with WSH next season: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Z3aLlcTXK5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/Z3aLlcTXK5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TSNBobMcKenzie\/status\/940711063598878722?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 12, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h1>Ilya Samsonov Receives an Exciting Visitor From Washington<\/h1>\n<p>It is comforting for Samsonov to know that his efforts have not gone unnoticed. Despite periods of injury, he has been outstanding to date. Last season playing 27 games, obtaining a 2.13 goal against average and a .936 save percentage. Samsonov has continued to impress this season, playing 17 games with a 2.87 goal against average giving him a .909 save percentage.<\/p>\n<p>Although the negotiations are premature it may be an advantage to the Capitals. As back up goalie, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/g\/grubaph01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Philipp Grubauer<\/a> will be a restricted free agent next season. Grubauer has proved himself capable and ready to be given more responsibility next year.<br \/>\nSamsonov himself is under no illusions, in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.championat.com\/hockey\/article-278556-ilja-samsonov---o-metallurge-mg-mchm-2017-vashingtone-i-olimpiade.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Championat\u2019s Daria Tuboltseva<\/a> in August, he stated:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThere is a chance (I could back up Holtby), but I need to work harder,\u201d This is the best league in the world after all. There are another five prospects competing for the same spot as me.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>One of those young prospects for the role is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/copleph01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pheonix Copley<\/a>. Currently playing for Capitals affiliate team Hershey Bears and will be on a one-way deal next season. Copley does have more NHL experience but does not match Samsonov&#8217;s raw skill.<\/p>\n<p>With award-winning,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/holtbbr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Braden Holtby<\/a> contracted to play at least until 2020. Samsonov may have to continue to work hard and be patient for some time yet. He looks very promising however and will be an exciting addition. Even if he has to gain more experience in the American Hockey League first.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"U7TnkgW0QuhBKJ-xFFY5Zw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/826983418\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'U7TnkgW0QuhBKJ-xFFY5Zw',sig:'UTz79bVW0nLZxy2-5wk5AAJ2LI-ul45RukWLD4I4tnw=',w:'594px',h:'425px',items:'826983418',caption: true ,tld:'ca',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Young goaltender Ilya Samsonov receives an exciting visitor, in Russia this week, in the form of Washington Capitals\u00a0general manager Brian MacLellan. This 20-year-old top prospect was selected as first round pick in the 2015 draft. His contract finishes with Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Kontinental Hockey League) in the spring. Sport-Express\u2019s Igor Eronko and TSN&#8217;s Bob McKenzie reported [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2344,"featured_media":20139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2003,309],"tags":[2413,517,955,75],"class_list":["post-20129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-capitals","category-khl","category-nhl-top-prospects","tag-ilya-samsonov","tag-khl","tag-nhl-news","tag-washington-capitals"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2344"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}