The Colorado Avalanche have found their next goaltender.
The Avalanche took a break from celebrating their remarkable Stanley Cup victory to do some roster-building on Thursday afternoon, acquiring netminder Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers in exchange for a third and fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft tonight, as well as a third-round pick in 2023.
And with that, the Avalanche all but ensure that Darcy Kuemper will play elsewhere next season, with the veteran goaltender now expected to test the open market after helping Colorado capture Lord Stanley’s mug last month.
Georgiev is a very interesting case study of a player, on the surface.
The 26-year-old has shown flashes of greatness throughout his young career, at one point even looking like the heir apparent to Rangers franchise stalwart Henrik Lundqvist. But Georgiev has fumbled in recent years and was usurped on the depth chart almost immediately after Igor Shesterkin arrived on Broadway, failing to show much consistency ever since.
In fact, Georgiev finished the 2021-22 campaign with a 15-10-2 record and two shutouts to go along with a dismal .898 save percentage and -7.6 goals-saved-above-average. Aside from a few Herculean performances towards the end of the season, he was teetering on the edge of being a sub-NHL netminder for most of the year, perhaps struggling with the inconsistent playing time forced upon him behind Shesterkin.
There is hope for a rebound, though.
The Rangers, despite their postseason success, were routinely out-shot and out-chanced by their opponents last season, placing much of the heavy lifting onto their goaltenders. Georgiev won’t be tasked with such immense responsibility in Colorado, as the Avalanche tend to dominate the possession game and insulate their goalies as much as possible — which could be a recipe for success.
Perhaps this is a perfect situation for Georgiev to flourish in a true tandem with Pavel Francouz.
And as for the Avalanche, this trade ensures that their 2022 draft will be a quiet one for now, with the team now not scheduled to pick until the sixth round.
