Avalanche Roundtable: Frankie or Grubi?

Today’s Avalanche Roundtable topic is one that probably would’ve been answered pretty easily had the season continued as normal. If they manage to squeeze out an end to the regular season and head into the playoffs, this will be the most pressing question facing the franchise.

Today’s topic: Assuming play resumes either at the end of the regular season or right away in the playoffs, which goaltender gets the first crack at the job for the Avalanche?

AJ: All credit to Pavel Francouz for a great couple of weeks at the end when Philipp Grubauer was dealing with the injury suffered during the Stadium Series. Frankie came in and played great when the Avs were trying to survive major injury issues but it shouldn’t be lost that Grubauer was also playing great before the injury. Now that neither goalie will be “hot” after months off, I don’t see how Francouz had done quite enough to usurp the starting job on the basis of just two solid weeks. The belief is that Grubauer is the starting goaltender and coming back to the season in this circumstance I think he gets the nod. I do think the leash will be much shorter, however, because of Francouz’s success.

Evan: This is a tough one. Coach Bednar said he will go with the hot hand during the regular season, but by the time the season (I think they go straight to playoffs) starts back up, there will be no way to determine that other than practice. My gut says that they will give Grubauer the first shot, just based off his playoff run last year, but will not hesitate to pull the plug and go to Francouz if they need too. Grubauer was starting to heat up before his injury, and I think there’s a bit of loyalty there, but he was too inconsistent this season to commit to him if he flounders early. Frankie proved he can get the job done and will get that next chance.

If they do go straight to the playoffs, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a lot of high scoring games, much like at the start of the regular season. No one will be in any sort of defensive rhythm and it will be wild hockey to watch.

Rudo: This one is Grub for me. Frankie did well in his stead and certainly pushed the conversation toward a potential tandem at the end of the day Grubauer is the more established NHL goaltender and one the Avs acquired to be the starter. Outside of what seems to be a consistent lull for him in December/January, he continues to play well enough against top competition to retain the starter job. Francouz is a fun goalie to watch but the erratic athletic style he brings is one that is harder to maintain and I just cannot get over some of the rebound control issues he consistently has. Particularly with the Avs struggles defensively in front of their own net. Grub is the only Avs goaltender to win a playoff round since Theodore, that has to have earned him a good amount of opportunity.