One day after acquiring him from the Washington Capitals, Philipp Grubauer received a three-year contract from the Colorado Avalanche.
Grubauer, 26, had a combined 28-16-5 record with Washington the past two seasons. He made $1.5 million on his last contract, and could have become a restricted free agent July 1. The official financial terms of the deal have yet to be released, but are believed to be close to $10 million overall. (Update: His salary for the three years are as follows: $3.35 million, $3.9 million and $2.75 million).
Grubauer and Semyon Varlamov will share the top two goaltending spots this coming season. Probably whomever is the hottest goalie at the moment will get the “No. 1” designation, but Varlamov is expected to have that title at the start of the season, at least.
The Avs concluded their draft Saturday in Dallas. A press conference introducing their top pick, Martin Kaut, and Grubauer is likely to happen early next week in Denver.
0 Comments (5 conversations)
Steve Cañon
The main question is can Varlamov stay healthy? Grubauer is a great acquisition.
Den_Via_Scot
No this is Varly’s replacement. He’s never going to be 100% ever again
AvsFinn
Yep this is my thought as well
Chris DeMott
As much as I believe that the Avs either had to sign Bernie or do something like this of which the options were pretty much, this… And, as much as I believe that Sakic got a great price for a really good goaltender… Any chance the Avs had of getting John Carlson ended with this trade. This gave the Caps this cap space they had to have to resign a critical piece of their core. So I am disappointed in that sense. Hopefully, Grubauer stays healthy and plays as advertised.
JDC15
They still have the cap space if they choose to chase Carlson (or JT) however I don’t think Sakic and co were going to go big name hunting in free agency this year. Remember this is still a team that didn’t make it into the playoffs until game 82, is the youngest team in the NHL and still needs to leave room for organic growth of prospects like Jost, Timmons, Makar, Compfer, and to lesser degrees Greer and Kamenev. Hand cuffing themselves with monster FA deals right now is PROBABLY not the best idea.
Chris DeMott
I’m with you in regards to organic growth, to the point that I would be against trading for Erik Karlsson. I just think John Carlson was a special opportunity. All in all I feel the trade was a net postive. I would however look for the Avs to sign a FA forward as they are still really shallow at wing and will need a bridge to Kaut.
ljp78
I agree that this is the end of the Carlson Dream, and it’s interesting to me that they prioritized a goalie over a number 1 defenseman. Time will tell if that’s the right move. I’m honestly not wise enough to know. Plan B, I’m guessing is to stay the course and let their players develop.
ThePhotoGorilla
I don’t expect the Avs will re-sign Varly. I do expect Varly to be held out as trade bait at the deadline next year, unless the Avs are in a strong playoff position. Grubs will be the new #1, he just has to prove himself and wait until the 2019-2020 season.