Avalanche’s goaltender’s predictable backslide drives home one surefire point

When the Colorado Avalanche traded for goaltender Alexandar Georgiev in July 2022, it seemed like a good idea. But not a good idea to transform Georgiev, who’d been so-so during his time with the New York Rangers, into a No. 1 goaltender. Instead, he seemed to be best suited in a 1B role. 

If you wanted to put Georgiev into a timeshare, then, at best, he’d be a fringe 1A, accruing somewhere between 43 and 45 starts per season. Now that the experiment regarding him as a true No. 1 goaltender has failed beyond reasonable measure and predictably so, it drives home one surefire point: Never trade for an unproven player with the idea to transform them into a major contributor. At least not in the short term.

The Avalanche, for as good as everything has been out in Denver over the past few years, seem to have forgotten that. This isn’t to say Georgiev’s entire tenure has been a waste, as he looked outstanding during the 2022-23 season, and you could even have called him a steal if it hadn’t been for the Rangers already possessing one of the league’s best goalies in Igor Shesterkin. 

One surefire point has been proven at the Avalanche’s expense

In 2022-23, Alexandar Georgiev finished the campaign with 62 starts, 40 wins, 41 quality starts, a 0.918 save percentage, a 2.53 GAA, and five shutouts. He more than earned his seventh–place finish for the Vezina Trophy, and, naturally, expectations were high entering 2023-24. 

But what followed is something we see in the NHL and any other major sport around the world regarding role players who enjoyed one monster year: Georgiev’s performance was, at best, marginal. He ended the season with another 62 starts, but his number of quality starts tanked to 27, with an 0.897 save percentage, a 3.02 GAA, and two shutouts. For what it’s worth, he still ended the year with 38 wins, but the Avs were also the best team in the league offensively. 

Georgiev indicated last season that he wasn’t the true No. 1 those in Denver wanted him to be, and this season, he’s been anything but serviceable. There are times when I wonder how he even still has a job in the NHL, and if the oft-ineffective Tristan Jarry over in Pittsburgh would fare better. 

As it stands this season, Georgiev has four starts, an 0.800 save percentage, a 5.79 GAA, and three ‘really bad starts.’ Right now, I’m not in the camp that thinks he’ll improve, and if you are in the camp that is, then I admire your optimism because my level of pessimism is somewhere near infinity. 

The Takeaway

Overall, this will be an ill-fated trade that gave us a mirage that Alexandar Georgiev was a serviceable goaltender. And it should serve as a warning to any and all teams trying to attempt the same thing: Be wary, at most, of trading for a goaltender or any player, for that matter, if they’re unproven before you hand them a significant role in this league. 

The best-case scenario would have seen the Avalanche acquiring another goaltender, allowing Georgiev to ease his way into that true No. 1 role. Now, it might be too late, and he is nothing more than a one-year wonder unless there’s a major turnaround in the near future.