With the Colorado Avalanche‘s 7-4 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 20), the club improved its record to 30-14-3 and currently rank third in the Western Conference by points percentage (PTS%). The team has been successful relative to expectations (their .670 PTS% is slightly better than their mark of .665 last season), but one worrying trend threatens to derail what most in the organization hope is a lengthy postseason run.
Starting goalie Alexandar Georgiev – who submitted a Vezina Trophy-calibre campaign in his debut season with the Avalanche – is playing too often, and has seen his performance dip over the first half of 2023-24. The drop could just be Georgiev regressing to the previously inconsistent level he displayed over his tenure with the New York Rangers, but his high usage isn’t helping matters at this stage.
The Avalanche don’t have too much cap space to work with (they currently have $13.5 million parked on long term injured reserve) and have an arguably more pressing need at second-line center. As a result, any potential acquisition would have to either carry a cheap cap hit, have their contract expire after this season, or both.
Acquiring goaltenders at the trade deadline is always a gamble, but the risk decreases significantly if you’re recruiting for a secondary backup role, rather than pooling all your chips together to find a steady, bonafide starter.
With that in mind, let’s dive into Georgiev’s season to date, and highlight four potential trade targets who could make their way to Denver by the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline (March 8).
Georgiev Feeling Toll of Heavy Workload as Avalanche Starter
Before lamenting Georgiev’s workload this season, I should note that he wasn’t exactly being used sparingly in 2022-23. In fact, he ranked third in the league in starts (62) and fourth in shots against while posting a .919 save percentage (SV%) and saving over 18 goals above expected (GSAx), which both ranked in the top 11 among all goalies last season.
This season has been more of the same, with Georgiev once again ranking highly in starts (first with 38) and shots faced (second) as the Avalanche’s starting option. The only difference is that his individual numbers have dropped noticeably, with his .896 SV% and minus-0.63 GSAx both ranking in the bottom half of all goaltenders this season.
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