Maple Leafs Ilya Samsonov makes prospect who is battling Brain Cancer - DREAM come true!

The Maple Leafs traded for him from the Ottawa Senators, but still required another goalie, so they signed Ilya Samsonov in free agency to a one-year ''show me'' deal, who was let walk from the Washington Capitals after inconsistent play.

Samsonov was a first round pick by the Capitals and they thought he would be their future goaltender. Sure enough that they let Stanley Cup winning, franchise goaltender Braden Holtby leave as a free agent. Unfortunately after two years of poor play, the Capitals also let Samsonov walk in favour of Stanley Cup champion Darcy Kuemper.

Well, the Matt Murray gamble has already been rough for the Maple Leafs as he has only played in one game before injuring himself in practice, but luckily, Ilya Samsonov has been lights out for the Leafs. Through 5 games, Samsonov is 4-1-0 with a 2.01 GAA and 0.932 save percentage.

On the Maple Leafs home opener, which was against the Washington Capitals, the Leafs honoured their prospect Rodion Amirov who had been diagnosed with brain cancer and undergoing treatments.

Samsonov has taken the rookie under his wing and has been showing him the ropes. He also helped Amirov meet his childhood idol, funny enough, it being the player the Maple Leaf were playing that night, Alexander Ovechkin.

After Samsonov defeated the Maple Leafs in their home opener, he tracked down Ovechkin and Kuznetsov so he could introduce them to Amirov.

Amirov got the chance to speak with his childhood idol, and it's a memory he will remember forever, all thanks to teammate Ilya Samsonov.

Rodion Amirov, Ilya Samsonov and a new friendship that helped a young player meet a hero: https://t.co/CK6TLtqsDH— Joshua Kloke (@joshuakloke) October 27, 2022