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Washington Capitals Select Ilya Samsonov 22nd Overall In 2015 NHL Draft

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June 26, 2015 9:39 pm

ilya-samsonov

The Washington Capitals have drafted goaltender Ilya Samsonov out of Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL 22nd overall in the 2015 Draft.

Samsonov is not expected to join the Caps before 2018 due to his contract with Metallurg.

Samsonov was ranked 19th by Bob McKenzie, third among goalies by Corey Pronman, and first among international goalies by NHL Central Scouting.

Here are the scouting reports on Samsonov.

Dennis Schellenberg, Hockey Prospectus:

Samsonov is one of many good goaltender prospects who have come out of Russia lately. He is considered by some to be the best one since Andrei Vasilevsky. His big size and the ability to make big saves impresses scouts the most. Although there are concerns about his consistency and the fact that he barely competed against top competitors, Samsonov has the talent to become a starting goalie at the NHL level.

Corey Pronman, ESPN:

Another goalie prospect who didn’t get a ton of playing time this season, Samsonov was very impressive at the junior and international levels ­­ when he did play. He screams “upside” as a bigger netminder who moves like he’s 5­10. Samsonov can make some very acrobatic saves, exhibits quick feet out of his butterfly and has a solid glove hand. He challenges shooters high in his crease, though he can get caught scrambling a little due to that aggressiveness. Samsonov’s reads are fine, but they need some tweaking. Overall, he squares up a lot of pucks and exhibits good effort.

The Hockey Writers:

An intriguing Russian goalie prospect with good size and excellent athleticism. Is the talk about Andrei Vasilevskiy? No. Samsonov is a 6’3′′, 200 lbs. goalie who can cover a big part of the net and rely on his athleticism and reactivity to make big saves. A native of Magnitogorsk, Russia, Samsonov never played outside of his home town, which also produced the likes of Evgeny Malkin and Nikolay Kulemin. He is also a long time member of the national team for players of his year of birth, and represented Russia in multiple international tournaments, like the WJAC and different tournaments in Europe.

TSN.ca:

Combines essential elements of size and athletic ability to be imposing in the net and make scoring difficult. He is very aware and reads the play well and is quick to close down the net. An ultra competitor who never gives up on a play. With normal technical refinement, he can become a star.

This marks 9th straight time the Caps have picked a European player with their first selection of the NHL Draft and first time they picked a goalie in the first round since Semyon Varlamov in 2006.

Samsonov played mostly with Metallurg’s affiliate Stalnye Lisy (Steel Foxes) in junior MHL last season and made his KHL debut.

In my opinion, that pick wasn’t very good. Really. I’m not a fan of taking goalies in the first round as most top goalies in the NHL (including Braden Holtby) were picked later (some much later). Draft pedigree is never a guarantee of NHL success, but with goalies it’s even more of a lottery. The Samsonov pick is even more mind-boggling considering Caps have incredible goalie depth and long-term projects throughout their system: Braden Holtby is an elite starting goalie in the NHL and is just now entering his prime; Philipp Grubauer is ready to take over the back-up job; Pheonix Copley has NHL potential; and Vitek Vanecek, while inconsistent, has a lot of raw talent for Mitch Korn to work with.

But we are happy anyways for one obvious reason.

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