To suggest Sergei Samsonov's NHL career was over and done with last Christmas might have been to overstate the case.
Not by much though. After all, the 1998 Rookie of the Year, presumably still in his prime at age 29, had just been dumped by his second team in less than two months, this time ignominiously via the waiver wire.
It didn't matter that the Blackhawks would have to eat a significant amount of Samsonov's cap-charged guaranteed money or that he had outscored Joe Thornton during the first five seasons together in Boston, the speedy Russian left winger was being told he was worth more by going away.
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| Sergei Samsonov has notched nearly a point per game since Carolina claimed the 10-year veteran. (Getty Images) |
A first-round draft pick of Boston in 1997, the same year the Bruins took Thornton first overall, Samsonov had failed to score a goal in his 23 games with the Blackhawks and found himself a healthy scratch on more than one occasion. His results were similarly dismal the season before in Montreal where he had signed a two-year, $7.5 million deal in the summer of 2006.
Chicago was supposed to be a new lease on life for someone who displayed dynamic offensive skills during the first half dozen seasons of his career, but much like he did in Montreal, Samsonov didn't show very much and ended up labeled as a malcontent because of clashes with his coaches about ice time. So when Chicago washed its hands of him so quickly this season, it was widely viewed as the end of the NHL line for Samsonov.
Samsonov didn't want to see it that way, clinging to the belief that he could entice some NHL team with a strong stint in the minors. But given the optics of his demotion, he admitted he wasn't sure.
"Yeah you wonder if you'll get another chance, if other teams will give you a look, you never know," Samsonov said. "There's 30 teams out there and not everybody follows you that closely. If somebody just looks at me statistically, they might not want to bother. I was fortunate Carolina did."
Necessity helped because the Hurricanes, who were and still are in a tight Southeast Division playoff race, were getting hit hard by injuries. Among the wounded were key forwards, Justin Williams, who was lost for the season with a knee injury, and Matt Cullen was dealing with concussion symptoms, so Carolina needed to fill a hole fast and without much cost.
The Hurricanes got a chance to see Samsonov showcased for a few games in the AHL, and then decided it was a calculated gamble because the Blackhawks will have to pick up half of his remaining salary this year. That leaves Carolina to pay only $880,000 for someone who is producing nearly a point a game, but even so, the organization didn't rush into anything without checking whether the move might have a negative influence in the dressing room.
"I don't know what's been going on the last few years other than he hasn't had the kind of offensive success he'd like, but I never saw that as being a problem," said Carolina coach Peter Laviolette, who was an assistant in Boston during some of Samsonov's early seasons. "Anything is a risk and as an organization, you want to make sure you get what you pay for. But Sergei's been terrific, everything we hoped for. He's been a great fit."
The numbers make that clear without explaining exactly why Samsonov has had an offensive epiphany since returning to the NHL. He said his game is played a little less on the perimeter now and he is willing to shoot more frequently, but to him the real change has to do with something as simple as getting more ice time.
When Samsonov joined the Hurricanes he played more than 20 minutes in his debut and lined up next to Rod Brind'Amour and has averaged around the same time since. Samsonov stayed on the captain's line until Brind'Amour suffered a season-ending knee injury and since then has played at different times with centers Eric Staal and Cullen.
"No matter what, he's on one of our top two scoring lines and he's on the power play because he's earned the time," Laviolette said. "Really he's done absolutely everything we've wanted from him."
That includes turning into a pretty decent defensive type. Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford recently commended Samsonov for it, a kudos no one would have accorded him early in his career.
"Things have fallen into place for me here," Samsonov said. "I'm lucky because if I was someone looking to pick me up then, I don't know if I would have taken a chance on me."
