Ilya Samsonov Explains Move to San Jose Sharks
The goaltender says the Sharks were his top choice all summer, admits recent seasons fell short, and vows to fight for playing time to rebuild his NHL form.
Ilya Samsonov has explained why he chose San Jose as his next stop, after signing a one-year, two-way deal with the Sharks this off-season.
"We talked with Evgeni Nabokov (the Sharks' director of goaltending) at the start of the summer. The last two seasons haven't gone the way I wanted. I let people down – at Vegas, and probably at Sochi too, and to some extent the goaltending coaches as well. Now I want to put that right, and that's why I believe San Jose is the best option for getting back to my previous level. I know I can play in the NHL. San Jose was the priority from the start of the summer. Of course it's hard to predict how things will turn out, but I want to play as many matches as possible. I need to get back into form. I'm not even 30 yet, so I've got another five to 10 years of my career ahead of me. All that's left is to prove it. That's the only reason I'm going. If I didn't believe that, I simply wouldn't be going anywhere – I'd be sitting at home on the sofa," Ilya Samsonov said.
About this article
Prepared by the editorial team with the help of algorithms, based on the sources listed