4 goalies to replace Pavel Francouz if he has to miss time
With news today from Frank Seravalli, among others, that Colorado Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz is not recovering as well as hoped from off-season adductor surgery, the Avalanche will look for some immediate help at backup netminder behind incumbent Alexandar Georgiev. Several options are available as the Avalanche move forward.
Whether that be via a trade, free agency, or their own system, there should be an ability for Colorado to fill this void fairly quickly. The prognosis of Francouz will likely play a role in how desperate the Avalanche are to fill this role (it better).
The Plzen, Czech Republic native played 16 games for the Avalanche last season and had a .915 save percentage as well as a 2.61 goals-against average. He’s been a serviceable backup for Colorado over parts of four seasons, with his most impressive season coming in 2019-20 when he had 21 wins and a .923 save percentage.
There are multiple options to start this season in the event Seravalli is correct (he usually is).
4 goaltender replacements for Colorado Avalanche: Justus Annunen
This may be the easiest option for the Avalanche to begin the season. Annunen was a third-round pick of the Avs in the 2018 draft out of Finland. He’s a big goalie, standing 6-foot-4 and weighing around 210 pounds. He’s played almost a handful of games at the NHL level, and although his numbers aren’t much to speak of, Annunen is the only goalie besides Georgiev and Francouz who has seen NHL action in the organization.
Annunen also has a team-friendly contract at a cap hit of only $775,000 for this season. It will be difficult to find a serviceable goalie on the open market making less money. Last season, Annunen played 41 AHL games for the Colorado Eagles and produced a goals-against average of 2.54 and a save percentage of .916. These numbers were very similar to what Francouz provided as the backup at the NHL level.
As Annunen becomes a restricted free agent after this season, a call-up to the big club will give the Avs time to determine if they believe Annunen is part of the future of this organization, or if they can let him walk in free agency after this season.
It’s likely that the Avalanche will count on Alexandar Georgiev to play a bulk of the early season games if Francouz is out, and that may suit Annunen to both develop further and also be able to help the Avalanche out at the same time.
4 goaltender replacements for Colorado Avalanche: Craig Anderson
Many older Avs fans will remember Anderson from his days playing in the Pepsi Arena about 13 years ago, and this may help the Avalanche out. Anderson, a 6’2”, 190-pound, 42-year-old American is recently retired, having played parts of 21 NHL seasons with several different teams, most recently the Buffalo Sabres.
42-year-old goalies with this much mileage normally wouldn’t be in high demand, but drastic situations call for drastic measures. Being retired and not requiring the entire season of play (hopefully), the Avalanche have an opportunity to offer a minimum type contract to Anderson to coax him out of retirement for a stretch of time until Pavel can recover and be ready to assume the backup job again.
Last year with Buffalo, Anderson had a goals-against average just about 3.0 and had a save percentage just below 91 percent. Those numbers came with a team in Buffalo that is still finding their way, albeit they seem to be heading in the right direction. Anderson has not played more than 34 games in a season since 2018-19 and that would be an early season role that he and the Avalanche could have clearly defined.
If Anderson could replicate those numbers, and be comfortable playing limited minutes (as he has been of late) the Avalanche would be confident in putting him in between the pipes during the beginning of the season. Anderson has far more credibility than Annunen does, and Anderson’s leash would be a lot longer presumably.
4 goaltender replacements for Colorado Avalanche: Jaroslav Halak
If the Avalanche choose to go the free agency route, like they recently did with the signing of Tomas Tatar, they could make a phone call to Halak. The 38-year-old Slovakian most recently played for the New York Rangers last season, but he’s got plenty of overall experience, playing parts of 18 NHL seasons with 7 different teams.
A serviceable netminder who has been useful to teams in spot duty or shorter stretches of time, Halak could be useful for the Avalanche as a stop-gap early in the season. Jaro stands 5-foot-11 and weighs about 190 pounds, which may be an issue for Colorado depending on their goaltending philosophy, but Halak has proven his worthiness over the years, regardless of his stature.
Halak is not as old as Anderson and believes he can still play in the NHL. Being able to agree to a contract that suits both the player and the team in this instance may be tricky, but it also may be worth the reward if Halak plays like his old self again. Like Anderson, Halak has played a limited number of games over the past few seasons, with no more than 40 in one season since 2018-19.
Last season for the Rangers, Halak played 25 games, slightly more than Francouz played for Colorado, and the two had similar numbers. Halak had a goals-against average of 2.72 and a save percentage of .903. Francouz’s numbers were a bit better than Halak’s, however, and he’s also younger.
4 goaltender replacements for Colorado Avalanche: Dan Vladar
As per a tweet from our friends over at Flame for Thought, there’s a chance Dan Vladar could be dangled by Calgary in order to fix the Avalanche’s potential early-season issues. There’s a logjam in net for Calgary in their system, and if the Avalanche would be willing to part with some draft capital, this deal could materialize rather quickly.
Vladar, like Francouz, is a Czech goalie, and stands 6-foot-5, weighing about 210 pounds. His size allows him to cover a lot of the net. Drafted by the Bruins in 2015, Vladar has played parts of four NHL seasons split between Boston and Calgary.
A key to acquiring Vladar will be the view of the organization moving forward for Colorado’s brass. Vladar is 26 years old, 7 years younger than Francouz. He’s a significantly larger goalie than Francouz as well. Francouz did have the better goals against and save percentage of the two last season, however.
Although Vladar makes slightly more money than Francouz, surely the Avalanche would be able to move around some money to make that happen.
If Vladar is acquired, it’s likely to replace Francouz more than it is to spell him for a few weeks to a couple of months. For the right price, it’s worth some conversations for the Colorado Avalanche.