When the Washington Capitals drafted Ilya Samsonov at 22nd overall in the 2015 NHL Draft, he was known as the “goaltender of the future”. Now with Braden Holtby entering the last year of his contract, that NHL future is looking closer than ever for Samsonov.
Samsonov remained in the KHL for three seasons with the Metallurg Magnitogorsk. In 2015-16 he went 6-4-3 in 19 games with a 2.04 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. The next season he improved his record to 15-3-5 in 27 games with a 2.