Should Colorado Avalanche continue to rely on Alexandar Georgiev in 2024-25?
The Colorado Avalanche are a few short moves away on the NHL chess board to make it back to the Stanley Cup Final in the upcoming years. They have an established core of skaters, but their last line of defense seems to be the only thing holding them back. Is it time to make a change?
Don't get it twisted, Alexandar Georgiev has been a stellar goaltender for the Colorado Avalanche since being traded by the New York Rangers in 2022. Over the past two seasons, he has had a record of 78-34-11 over 125 games in net. That is the most wins by any NHL goaltender in that span.
But, here is the rub: the playoffs have not been kind to Georgiev and the Avs since the Bulgarian product started defending the goal. In 18 starts, he has a 9-9 record and had a low-end save percentage of .902. Consequently, it resulted in the Avalanche departing much sooner than anyone could have anticipated, especially with how fantastic their regular seasons have gone.
Should the Avalanche stick with Georgiev, who has shown to be an elite goaltender in the regular season, but flips to a completely different player come playoff time? The Avalanche cannot afford to lose games with as high-power of an offense as they have, just because of at-times shaky goaltending.
We have seen over the past few days that some goalies made their way onto new teams. Jacob Markstrom from Calgary now joins the New Jersey Devils, and Darcy Kuemper leaves Los Angeles for Washington. Did the Avalanche make a mistake in not jumping at the chance to make a change? Or, are they committed to sticking Georgiev in the net all season long, and hoping that he comes alive at the most important time of the year?
In my opinion, I believe that you do just that. Having the most amount of regular season wins amongst all of the National Hockey League over the past two seasons is a huge selling point. Georgiev was traded by the Rangers after spending five seasons there and has to re-adjust and learn his new team quickly. He did that smoothly and efficiently, and the Avalanche would not be regarded nearly anywhere near the top of the NHL if it wasn't for his performance. You have to stick with Georgiev for next season and the foreseeable future.
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