The Net: Avs goalie breakdown

After seven years of being the undisputed man in net, Colorado Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov finds himself in a different position than any he’s experienced in his time in Colorado. With the acquisition of Philipp Grubauer from the Washington Capitals, the Avalanche sent the message to pending unrestricted free agent Varlamov they were preparing for life after him.

With one year left on his contract, Varlamov enters training camp in a battle with Grubauer. When asked about an opening night starter, head coach Jared Bednar declined to name one, though he did say his trust with Varlamov had him leaning in that direction. Still, the door was left ajar for Grubauer to kick it open and walk on through as the new starting goaltender.

As such, we here at BSN Denver will be keeping a close eye on the goaltenders throughout training camp and the preseason. Today begins our daily look at the battle, though today’s will be more lacking because the first day of camp is as much about teaching systems and conditioning as it is about playing hockey.

Semyon Varlamov

Let’s start with the incumbent. One of the reasons Varlamov is even facing a challenger this year is because of his rampant injury issues. Even though last year was nowhere near the same kind of injury-filled season he’s experienced in the past, he still missed the majority of January with his usual groin injury. He returned better than ever, however, until a reckless decision by Tomas Jurco of the Chicago Blackhawks resulted in a knee injury for Varlamov. That sidelined him for the rest of the year and forced Andrew Hammond to start multiple playoff games after backup Jonathan Bernier was injured as well.

General manager Joe Sakic clearly wasn’t interested in putting himself in that position again and with Varlamov facing free agency in the summer of 2019, he was proactive in getting the top restricted free agent goaltender on the market in Grubauer.

Today was the beginning of his net defense from the young buck and it was an impressive start. Varlamov looked quick and fresh, aggressively challenging shooters and frequently coming out on top. Only a handful of goals in drills involving actual defense slipped by him as he stoutly stood his ground. It’s always been obvious when Varlamov was feeling good about himself because he believes himself to be nearly unbeatable, giving him the confidence to aggressively challenge puck carriers. He was certainly that guy today.

Philipp Grubauer

The challenger to the throne of Varlamov, Grubauer followed the path laid out by his new counterpart in excelling in Washington and being dealt to Colorado as a restricted free agent looking for a new opportunity. Now, with Varlamov facing an uncertain future of his own, Grubauer is locked in for three years and appears set to be the starter of the future. There’s almost no way the Avalanche pay a premium to keep both guys for multiple years so Grubauer is going to need this season to prove he can handle a workload he’s never taken on before.

On the first day, Grubauer looked solid but unspectacular. There’s going to be an adjustment period with his new goaltender coach Jussi Parkkila. That might be Varlamov’s biggest advantage over Grubauer right now as he has been working with this coaching staff for a full year, plus familiarity with Parikkila dating back to his days in Russia. We saw last season it took about a month for both Varlamov and Bernier to get adjusted and start producing more consistent results. It’s only fair to give Grubauer a similar leash but with so much on the line, he’s facing significantly more pressure than Bernier ever had to (until that whole game 82 thing).

If there’s one striking contrast from Varlamov to Grubauer (and almost any other goaltender, honestly) it’s the athleticism at play. Varlamov is a freak of nature so great athletes can still pale in comparison to the quick-twitch ability Varlamov brings. Grubauer isn’t the same caliber of explosive athlete so look for him to take to the coaching more where he leans on fundamentals and technique.

I’m looking forward to watching Grubauer in the next few days but day one was pretty slow and more about conditioning than anything else.

Pavel Francouz

As a bonus for today, I’ll toss Francouz in here as well. He’s likely the starter for the Colorado Eagles, which means he’s the third man up for the Avalanche if injuries strike. I won’t get into him everyday but I loved what he did today. He’s certainly smaller than the other guys he’s competing with but he’s a battler. Last year’s KHL Goaltender of the Year made some excellent saves, including one in which he went post-to-post and stuffed a cross-ice pass with a great kick save. Francouz is going to be fun to watch.

Today’s winner: Varlamov

It’s almost a win by default given how little they did today but just showing up healthy was going to be enough for Varlamov to keep the gig…for now.