Colorado Avalanche: Semyon Varlamov off to red hot start

Semyon Varlamov is doing his part to help the Colorado Avalanche win, and his efforts make them one of the toughest teams to play against in the NHL

Semyon Varlamov has had an interesting career so far. Starting out with the Washington Capitals, he made his way to Denver and now owns the starting gig with the Colorado Avalanche. Despite some legal troubles and injuries, Varlamov has always had the potential to be a good NHL goalie. With those issues behind him, he looks ready to take the Avalanche to the next level in 2018-19.

Varlamov has a 1.33 goals against average and a 0.955 save percentage so far this season. While the sample size is small, Varlamov has faced a total of 85 shots in just three games, each of them wins. In doing his part for the Avalanche, they now find themselves 3-1-0 to start the NHL season.

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The only loss came at the hands of Philipp Grubauer, another goalie the Avalanche acquired through the Capitals. The 26-year-old German goaltender arrived in Colorado as primarily an insurance policy who may be able to compete for starts.

If anything were to happen to Varlamov, the Avs can hope to count on another budding goaltender hoping to make his mark in the NHL. He did not do well in his lone showing this season, but his showing with the Capitals last season was proof of his abilities.

Health and Consistency is the Name of the Game

For Varlamov, he will need to focus on hockey and enjoy his prime as a starting goaltender in the NHL. At 30 years old, not only does Varlamov have 10 years of NHL experience, he has a great team in front of him as well. They have stars in the making on offense, with a nice mix of experience and youth on the blueline.  With the off-ice distractions hopefully put to bed, Varlamov will need to stay healthy and focus on becoming one of the premier goalies in the NHL.

He has all the tools to do it.

His focus level is on point to start the season and his movement in the crease looks good. The goals that have been scored on him, for the most part, have not been the cleanest goals. Deflections and second-chance rebounds have been Varlamov’s only blemishes. Not to mention, Mikhail Vorobyev‘s first goal as an NHL player.

With Grubauer hoping to breath down his neck all season long, Varlamov can use this as healthy competition. Not only will it help him maintain his high level of play, but can also help him find some consistency as the Avalanche take the next steps as a playoff team.

Varlamov will need to a be a major part of their plans moving forward, and his play will certainly determine the direction of the team as the NHL season progresses.