Georgiev embracing "unbelievable" opportunity in net for Colorado

Looking as dapper as you’ll ever see a player look in an off-season zoom call, Alexandar Georgiev met with the local media on Tuesday for the first time since being acquired by the team just five days prior.

The Bulgarian-born netminder, who has since signed a three-year, $10.2 million contract, could not hide his excitement about the move.

“I’ve been hoping for the opportunity to play for this kind of team,” he told the media. “They just won the Cup, obviously, and they have a core that’s going to stay a while together. To get the opportunity to play for them is unbelievable. It felt unreal. I am really blessed for that.”

“Georgie”, as his teammates call him, said he’d already heard from a few of his new teammates via text, which “felt super nice”, but he already has a good relationship with star forward Mikko Rantanen. The two were teammates back as teenagers on TPS in Finland and train together in the summer. That should help ease the transition to a new city.

What else might help ease that transition? A summer lunch meeting with your new goaltending coach.

Georgiev, who spends his summers training in Finland, connected with his new goalie coach for a meal just earlier in the day to get a head start on training camp.

“We got to take lunch together and talk a bit about the upcoming season and Denver overall,” Georgiev said. “It seems like we have a lot in common and he has a plan for me. He’s really excited to work with me and it’s the same for me.”

Georgiev knew he was going to get traded this summer, but finding out that it was the defending Stanley Cup champions who were trading for him was a “big boost.”

“It’s something I needed,” he said. “The last couple of seasons I didn’t get a lot of opportunity to play games in a row. Hearing that the Stanley Cup champions believe in you and believe you are the guy is all I ever wanted.”

The 26-year-old goalie will get his chance to prove he is the guy, starting in September when the Avs report back for training camp.