"What was the point of sending him down" - NHL fans left perplexed by Maple Leafs' decision to bring back Ilya Samsonov from AHL 

The Toronto Maple Leafs' decision to recall goaltender Ilya Samsonov from the AHL without him having played a game for the Toronto Marlies has left fans puzzled.

Fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their confusion at the decision.

One fan commented:

“What was the point of sending him down and having Hildeby up - not to play him? Man, this has the chance to have major egg on MLSE management”

Here are some fan reactions to the Maple Leafs' decision to bring back Samsonov:

The decision to send him to the AHL was made after Samsonov was placed on waivers following a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets where he allowed six goals on 21 shots.

Samsonov’s performance this season has been substandard, with a record of 5-2-6, His goals-against average stands at 3.94 and he has a save percentage of .862.

These numbers are poor by NHL standards, especially for a Maple Leafs goaltender. Hence, recalling Samsonov and sending Dennis Hildeby back to the Marlies has confused fans.

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Ilya Samsonov’s performance last season

Ilya Samsonov was coming off an impressive season. He won 27 games, secured four shutouts and had a career-best save percentage of .919.

He earned a one-year contract of $3.55 million through arbitration in the offseason. Throughout his NHL career, he has played 146 games and has a record of 84-34-19. His goals-against average of 2.77 and his save percentage is .903 which proves how capable he is.