3 free agents the Colorado Avalanche should sign

1.) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

The Avalanche just drafted three goalies, one, with pick 38, that appears to be very promising and according to some, was the best goalie in the draft. They already have Alexandar Georgiev as their top netminder as well as Justus Annunen, who took over primary backup duties about halfway through the season.

Georgiev won a lot of games, but his play was shaky at best. He finished the season with a 3.02 goals against average and a .897 save percentage—neither good enough to be a bonafide top choice goaltender in the NHL on a regular basis.  Annunen was better in limited action. He had a .928 save percentage across 14 games with a 2.25 goals against average.

The Avalanche have a decision to make in goal and signing a player like Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen would benefit the team. He’s a younger goalie, only 25, and is also Finnish, like Annunen. He’s also of similar stature to Annunen as a taller goalie. He comes from a team (Buffalo) that’s been a downtrodden franchise for years and likely would benefit from having a higher quality roster playing in front of him every night.

He had quality numbers this past season, his first season with extended playing time. Across 54 games (51 starts) he won 27 games and lost only 22. His save percentage was a serviceable .910 and he kept a 2.57 goals against average. If the Avalanche could have gotten serviceable play like that across the season, results may have been quite different.

Most importantly from Chris MacFarland’s perspective is the contract Luukkonen played under last season. He made less than one million dollars, $837,500 to be exact, and that would certainly fit into the Avalanche budget, especially if they believe in He. He is a restricted free agent, so MacFarland would have to be creative in offering him a deal Buffalo wouldn’t match, but if it solves the goalie problem for a few years until Nabokov is ready, then it’d be well worth the gray hairs MacFarland added.