After years of play that can really might be best described as 'skating around' it looks as thought the NHL career of enigmatic winger Sergei Samsonov may be coming to an end. After being acquired by the Chicago Blackhawks from Montreal during the summer, the Hawks put Samsonov on the waiver wire tonight. If he goes unclaimed, his next gig will be for the Hawks' AHL affiliate in Rockford, Illinois. Originally, Samsonov was the 8th pick in the 1997 draft, selected by Boston. Along with Joe Thornton, Samsonov was part of a Bruins duo that was supposed to lead the team back to the promised land. That never materialized, despite Samsonov putting up two 70+ point, 29 goal seasons at the beginning of the millennium. After a few mediocre and injury plagued seasons, he was let go. Prior to last season, he ended up signing a two-year deal with Montreal valued at approximately $7 million. In Montreal, Samsonov never regained any of the form he had in Boston and was frequently a healthy scratch, finishing the year with nine goals in 63 games. This season, Samsonov had a grand total of zero goals and four assists for the Hawks in 23 games in addition to a -7 rating.
It's really quite amazing that despite the Blackhawks recent resurgence, Samsonov didn't benefit from it in the least. With kids like Jon Toews and Patrick Kane firing on all cylinders, Samsonov didn't even find the net. Not once. It's highly unlikely that any team will claim Samsonov, who at this point appears to have completely lost his scoring touch. The next stop for him will almost certainly be the AHL, and after that it is anyone's guess. How about a reality show on VH1? Those folks can make a show about anything.
