San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) General Manager Mike Grier announced today that the club has signed goaltender Ilya Samsonov to a one-year, two-way contract.
Samsonov, 29, appeared in 14 games with HK Sochi of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in 2025-26, finishing the campaign with a 3.27 Goals Against Average (GAA), .903 Save Percentage (SV%) and one shutout.
Samsonov had competed in the NHL in the six seasons prior to his return to KHL action, backstopping the Vegas Golden Knights in 2024-25, Toronto Maple Leafs from 2022-24 and Washington Capitals from 2019-22. Over his NHL career, the netminder has amassed a record of 118-48-25 with a 2.77 GAA, .902 SV% and 15 shutouts in 200 league regular season games. He logged career bests across all categories in 2022-23 with Toronto, posting 27 wins, a 2.33 GAA, .919 SV% and four shutouts. Samsonov has also appeared in 22 career Stanley Cup Playoff contests, owning a 3.05 GAA and .901 SV% in those games.
Prior to his North American career, Samsonov primarily played in the KHL from 2015-18 with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, helping the club capture the Gagarin Cup in 2016, his first year in the league. Over his five-year career on the circuit, he logged a 36-24-9 record with a 2.37 GAA, .924 SV% and eight shutouts over 87 appearances. He also appeared in 23 games in Russia’s premier junior league, the MHL, going 16-4-1 with a 2.47 GAA, .922 SV% and two shutouts over parts of three seasons.
In international competition, Samsonov represented Russia and the 2016 and 2017 World Junior Championships, winning a Silver Medal in 2016 and Bronze in 2017. He was named to the tournament’s All-Star Team in the latter tournament after going 3-3-0 with a 2.11 GAA, .930 SV% and two shutouts. Samsonov also was named Best Goaltender at the 2014 U-18 World Junior Championship after going 2-1-0 with a 2.67 GAA to accompany a .934 SV%.
The six-foot-three, 208-pound native of Magnitogorsk, Russia was originally selected by the Washington Capitals in the 2015 NHL Draft (first round, 22nd overall).
