Two storylines have stuck out for the first 11 games of the season for the Colorado Avalanche. First, they need an upgrade in the goaltending department. Second, they continue to be ravaged by injuries, especially with the news Ross Colton will be out six to eight weeks. At the time of his injury Colton was Colorado’s top scorer.
Alexandar Georgiev ranks last out of all qualified goaltenders in the NHL in goals saved above expected at -10.2 (good for 71st place, entering Thursday). In their ten losses so far, three have seen them allow at least six goals and seven of them has seen them allow at least five goals. Colorado is second to last in the NHL this season in goals allowed at 46, one better than the Pittsburgh Penguins who have 47.
The Avalanche are still a skilled team who were never built around shut down goaltending. Remember in their cup winning 2022 season they used Darcy Kuemper who had a .902 save percentage in that year’s playoffs. With secondary scoring all but gone due to injuries, every save counts more now as the line between subpar and good goaltending could mean the difference between being firmly in the playoff race and heading toward being sellers at the deadline once the team returns to health. If there was ever a “moment of judgement” for Colorado to seek an upgrade in goal, it’s now.
They could find a willing trade partner in the still rebuilding San Jose Sharks. The Sharks pretty much inherited the New Jersey Devils 2022-2023 goaltending duo of Vitek Vanecek and Mackenzie Blackwood. With the offseason acquisition of Yaroslav Askarov as their seeming “goaltender of the future” one would expect both Blackwood and Vanecek to be expendable for the right price.
Vanecek is coming off a disappointing season that ended with injury and saw him post an ineffective 3.18 goals against average and a .890 save percentage. Colorado could buy low and hope the version of Vanecek they’re getting is closer to the 2.45 goals against average and .911 save percentage he had with the Devils in 2022-2023. After all, he would be playing behind a much improved defense in the mile high city.
Blackwood has a laundry list of injuries that kept him out of game action and posted a 3.45 goals against average and a 0.899 save percentage in his first season as a Shark. Blackwood did finish last season with a positive goals saved above expected with 2.4 which placed him 33rd out of 98 qualified goaltenders for the 2023-2024 season on a horrible San Jose team. 16 of his starts last year saw him post a .920 save percentage or better. Compare that to Georgiev, who had 22 last season with a significantly higher work load and behind a much better team.
Whoever the Avalanche get doesn’t need to be Conn Smythe winning level Andrei Vasilevskiy, just someone to hold down the fort until enough reinforcements come that the Avalanche can win game with their “win by slugging” ways. Shipping off a goaltender might be a blessing in disguise for San Jose.
Macklin Celebrini or not, this team is still very much rebuilding and would be happy to receive adequate compensation for a below average goaltender. Askarov’s disappointment without having a clear path to the NHL is what lead to him requesting a trade from the Nashville Predators. Opening up that roster space would help keep Askarov happy and give him NHL experience as well.