Colorado Avalanche sign Alexandar Georgiev to three-year contract with $3.4 million cap hit

Just three days after acquiring Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers, the Colorado Avalanche have signed the 26-year-old goaltender to a three-year contract carrying a $3.4 million annual cap hit.

Georgiev posted a 15–10–2 record, an .898 save percentage, and two shutouts in 33 games with the Rangers during the 2021–22 regular season. He subsequently made two additional appearances in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, going 0–1 with a .935 save percentage.

On July 7, the Avalanche traded three draft picks to the Rangers to acquire Georgiev’s exclusive negotiation rights. The Bulgarian-born Russian netminder would have been eligible to file for arbitration this summer as a restricted free agent.

Georgiev appeared in 129 regular-season games with the Rangers between 2017–18 and 2021–22, posting an 58–48–11 record with eight shutouts and a .908 save percentage. His departure from New York paves the way for reigning Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin to take on an even bigger workload.

With Georgiev now under contract, the Avalanche appear to have their goaltending tandem solidified for the 2022–23 season. Stanley Cup champion Pavel Francouz, signed through 2024 at a $2 million cap hit, will likely form a tandem with Georgiev for the next two years.

Georgiev signing a relatively lucrative deal with Colorado almost certainly marks the end of Darcy Kuemper’s tenure with the team, which had already been widely assumed to be over after the trade with the Rangers. Kuemper, 32, is expected to go to market on July 13 as one of the top UFA goaltenders available.

Only two members of the 2022 Stanley Cup Avalanche team remain pending RFAs without contracts in place: Nicolas Aubé-Kubel and Artturi Lehkonen.