Colorado Avalanche: The Semyon Varlamov Dilemma

The Colorado Avalanche have a dilemma on their hands with Semyon Varlamov wishing to re-sign with the team.

The Colorado Avalanche have a goalie dilemma. I mean, we’ve known for a while that we have inconsistent goalies, both of whom run hot and cold at the same time. And that is something of a dilemma.

However, the goalie drama has taken a new turn. The one thing I thought we were all sure about was that we were seeing Semyon Varlamov‘s last games as an Avalanche player.

I mean, there was a time that I flirted with the thought that the Avalanche might bring him back on a short-term contract. However, I figured he’d be too expensive. He’s finishing up a five-year contract with an average annual value of $5.9 million.

I don’t know that I thought he’d want a pay raise at the age of 30. However, I didn’t imagine he’d want to take a significant pay cut either.

Well, recently Varlamov spoke with Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic, and he stated unequivocally that his preference is to stay in Colorado:

“I want to stay here because I love this team. Hopefully I am going to stay, and hopefully I’m going to re-sign my next contract with the Avalanche.”

Well, that sentiment is pretty clear.

In addition to the above quote, Varlamov had some nice words to say:

“I love this city. I love the fans. I think we have a good team here and the team is getting stronger and better every year. We have a lot of good, young skilled guys coming in and we have a lot of good prospects coming in the future with this team.”

It’s always gratifying to hear the players talk about how much they love your team. However, like I said, it does put the Avalanche in something of a pickle.

They signed Philipp Grubauer as Varlamov’s heir apparent. Not that Grubauer has earned that title yet, but Jared Bednar has seemed unwilling of late to give him that chance. Grubauer is 27 and signed for two more years at $3.33 million.

Then there’s the matter of Pavel Francouz. Many Avs fans see the 28-year-old as the savior of our goalie situation. Francouz is a UFA after this season and doesn’t have a full NHL game to his name. However, it would be nice to see what we’ve got with him. He’s currently making $690,000. I don’t imagine he’s going to skyrocket up to Varlamov’s salary scale.

Which brings us back to Varlamov and money. Would he take a hometown discount? If so, how much? The Colorado Avalanche are going to have to sign Mikko Rantanen, and it ain’t going to be cheap. They’ve got a clutch of RFAs and UFAs coming up, too. Though they might not sign them all, someone has to fill out the roster.

And what about Varalmov’s role. Would he be backup to Grubauer? Would we have two “number one goalies” again? Would we trade Grubauer and see how long we could ride the Varly train with Francouz as the backup?

What do I think the Colorado Avalanche should do? I mean, I trust Varlamov over Grubauer, but that’s partially because I don’t know Philipp well enough yet. And I, like many Avs fans, want to check out the Francouz experiment.

And I want the Avs to go forward with the youth movement. The idea of a Grubauer-Francouz tandem is scarier than a Varlamov-Grubaeur tandem, but it might yield better results.

I guess I want the Colorado Avalanche to gamble on the future. I think I, like many Avs fans, had already bid my goodbyes to Varly in my heart.