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Colorado Avalanche to Bring Pavel Francouz Back for Another Season

By Nadia Archuleta

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 02: Goaltender Pavel Francouz #39 of the Colorado Avalanche skates prior to the game against the San Jose Sharks at the Pepsi Center on January 2, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The Sharks defeated the Avalanche 5-4. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 02: Goaltender Pavel Francouz #39 of the Colorado Avalanche skates prior to the game against the San Jose Sharks at the Pepsi Center on January 2, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The Sharks defeated the Avalanche 5-4. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The Colorado Avalanche have re-signed goalie Pavel Francouz to another contract.

In a move that’s surprised no one, the Colorado Avalanche signed goalie Pavel Francouz to a one-year standard contract for next season. At the time of writing, the unconfirmed details had the contract worth $950,000 at both the NHL and AHL level.

Francouz was a surprise find (for fans) last season. He came into training camp as a 28-year-old rookie. While he seemed impressive, the Avalanche already had starter Semyon Varlamov and newbie Philipp Grubauer, who became the eventual starter.

Francouz became the go-to goalie for the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. He played 49 games for the Eagles, posting a 27-17-3 record. He recorded a .918 save percentage and 2.68 goals against average, which was good for fifth in the AHL. He also threw three shutouts.

Pavel made a brief appearance with the Colorado Avalanche when he came up as relief backup. He didn’t start any NHL games, but he did go in as a relief goalie twice. In his brief stint, he recorded a 1.97 GAA and a .943 save percentage.

He also developed the most adorable bromance with fellow Czech national and last year’s 16th-overall draft pick, Martin Kaut:

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Pavel Francouz has represented his native Czech Repbulic many times — six, to be exact.

  • 2008: World Junior Championship
  • 2010: World Junior Championship
  • 2013: World Championship
  • 2014: World Championship
  • 2016: World Championship
  • 2017: World Championship
  • 2018: Olympic Games
  • 2018: World Championship

He’s currently playing for the Czech Republic at IIHF Worlds. Francouz has played four games, winning all four. Two of those games resulted in shutouts.

GM Joe Sakic spoke with the media about signing Pavel Francouz:

"“We are excited to have Pavel back with the Avalanche organization for another year. He had a very strong first season in North America last year, being named an All-Star and leading the Eagles to the Calder Cup Playoffs. He brings extensive international experience and got a taste of the NHL last year and performed well.”"

Prior to his North American play, Pavel Francouz played for Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL in Russia.

Next. Saying Goodbye to Varlamov. dark

As of right now, it looks like Francouz would be Grubauer’s backup goalie for the Colorado Avalanche.

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