Alexandar Georgiev’s Colorado Avalanche Future in Doubt After 2024-25 – The Hockey Writers – Colorado Avalanche

With most of the 2024-25 roster construction completed, the Colorado Avalanche can look to next summer and beyond. While Mikko Rantanen, Jonathan Drouin, and Logan O’Connor are three notable names without a contract for the 2025-26 season, the most intriguing situation belongs to starting goaltender Alexandar Georgiev.

The 28-year-old signed a three-year contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $3.4 million immediately after being acquired from the New York Rangers during the 2022 offseason. His cap hit currently ranks 29th among all goaltenders – excluding Carey Price and Robin Lehner, who did not play any games during the 2023-24 season and whose playing careers are in doubt due to injury.

Such a salary is adequate compensation for a netminder who shoulders the brunt of the workload and provides a serviceable performance (or better) on most nights. The question is whether he deserves a long-term deal and the raise that would surely accompany an extension. The 2024-25 season represents a flashpoint in Georgiev’s future with the Avalanche, especially with 24-year-old Justus Annunen breathing down his neck. Here’s a look at the first two years of Georgiev’s tenure in Colorado and the merits of a new deal.

Georgiev’s Avalanche Tenure Is a Tale of Two Goalies

On the whole, Georgiev has delivered on what was expected of him when he joined the Avalanche. He’s played (GP) the second-most games in the NHL over the past two seasons (125) and grades out as a starting-caliber goaltender (top 32) in every key statistical category, including goals-against average (GAA), save percentage (SV%), and goals saved above expected (GSAx) among qualified goalies (minimum 20 games played).

There is a difference between the two seasons. Georgiev did play (62 vs. 63) and win (40 vs. 38) the same number of games from 2022-23 to 2023-24, but his individual performance dropped significantly. His SV% plummeted from .918 to .897 while his GAA rose from 2.53 to 3.02 to finish in the bottom half of all qualified goalies league-wide (minimum 10 games played).

While Georgiev’s stat line tells an accurate story about his second season in Colorado, more jarring was his inconsistency. Of the 62 games he played in 2022-23, he…