The Colorado Avalanche announced today they have come to terms with goaltender Pavel Francouz (pronounced Fran-soos for those curious) on a one-year contract through 2018-19. It is a one-way deal worth $690,000.
Francouz, 27, has had a circuitous route to North America as he spent several seasons in his native Czech Republic before moving to Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL, where he has spent the last three seasons. His numbers have been impressive, even for the low-scoring KHL, as he has compiled a .946 save percentage and 1.80 goals-against-average last season in 35 games played. He has steadily earned more playing time in his three KHL seasons, going from 18 to 30 to 34 games played and his numbers remained excellent.
His playoff performance helped put him on the NHL’s radar this year as he played 12 postseason games, posting a .949/1.90 split as Traktor made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to eventual league champion Ak Bars.
He will represent the Czech Republic at the upcoming World Championships in Denmark, marking the fifth time he will represent his country at the tournament.
His role for the Avalanche is unclear immediately but he has stated previously he is willing to learn the NA game in the AHL if need be. This openness to learning in the minors doesn’t immediately rule out the return of Jonathan Bernier to the Avalanche but it does cast reasonable doubt. Starting goaltender Semyon Varlamov is the only other goaltender currently under contract in the organization as Bernier and Andrew Hammond are unrestricted free agents and Spencer Martin is a restricted free agent for the first time in his career. Martin is expected to return.
Addressing the goaltending position, specifically with Francouz, was mentioned previously in our offseason plan for the Avalanche. This signing is just one step to shoring up an organizational weakness and likely won’t be the last addition to the goaltender position this summer.
0 Comments (10 conversations)
Bgravel
velano is realy not that strong, Could not score on a league thats easy to score, i live in QC… Even here the top hockey Jr People say he is more à late first, some 2nd rounder….
denvermaxd
Jibbled?
Big time haha.
Bgravel
I realy like this signing of Francouz
Rich
I like the early signing, I am excited see what Pavel Francouz brings to the Avs?
IdAvsFan
Would have much preferred to see this be a 2way contract… some miles up and down I-25 might be beneficial.
Why the preference in a two-way deal? There’s no difference in one-way or two except the money Francouz makes. It’s under $900K so if he’s not in the NHL he’s not counting against the salary cap.
Jon
A one way contract only means that he earns that full salary whether he plays in the NHL or AHL. Doesn’t mean he can’t play in the AHL on a one way contract. Many two way deals looks like 700k NHL / 80k AHL as an example.
Dario
Is he aware of our messuse situation?
Nels
AJ please help me understand your to the Avs goaltending situation. The three goalies the Avs used THIS season are a huge part of the reason the Avs did as well as they did. All three contributed in their own ways at their own time. Why is there not even a mention of POSSIBLY overpaying Bernie a million or two? In this situation no matter what, but esp. when the Avs have something like 30 million they HAVE to spend just to stay in the league? Same question where it comes to the Hamburlger. Although he’d even be alot cheaper than Bernie. Why have I never heard his name mentioned even once in any article or podcast as a possible candidate to return to the Avs? Are you aware he has the best SV% and GAA of ANY Avs goalie in BOTH the playoffs and the regular season? I know, I know, “small sample size”. But Spencer Martin has a small sample size and it sucks. I don’t understand why the Hamburgler doesn’t even warrant a mention? What exactly do you have against him other than that he doesn’t play well in the AHL? At least he plays well in the NHL. When he lost his Ottawa job to arguably one of the best goaltenders in the league at the time, didn’t he lose it due to losing his first 2 playoff games of his career backstopping an underdog on the road? And it’s not even like he got totally shredded, he gave up 8 goals in those 2 games right? So like Bernie in Nashville for the first two this playoffs. If it’s not the right thing to do to bring Bernie and the Hamburlger back next year, why is it not even being looked at or discussed at all? Don’t the Avs have enough money they NEED to spend to justify keeping the goalies that we did have success with this season? In your own words – “They have two spots to fill and a lot of questions surrounding the long-term future of the position.” – Bernie and Hammond are already on the team. High skill, high talent, in the prime of their careers (for goalies), and most importantly, already played well for the team THIS season/playoffs.
Nels
12 million John Tavares
8 million John Carlsson
3 to 5 resign our depth guys like Barberio and Comeau
3 or 4 resign our depth goalies Bernie and Hamburgler
After that they still have to spend money just to get to the FLOOR, right?
Uh, well, we’ve said on at least one podcast (probably more since we talk goaltenders all the time) that if they wanted to bring Hammond back to compete for the backup goalie job but likely be the starter in the AHL, that would be fine. Handing him any kind of guaranteed NHL job is a terrible idea. Bernier probably wants to test the market because there are more teams looking for help than there are quality netminders. Him re-signing in Colorado means he’s a backup and has to rely on Varlamov getting hurt for an extended period of time in order to play. He wasn’t good enough to justify taking Varlamov’s job this year and got badly outplayed down the stretch. Spencer Martin will be back as it costs them just a qualifying offer and AHL playing time so you can bank on that happening. Goaltenders are highly volatile and neither Hammond nor Bernier have justified any kind of commitment to anything more than a backup role in the NHL and in Hammond’s case that even generous. Francouz will compete for that job so that ends the idea of bringing back BOTH Hammond and Bernier. I doubt they commit to either before UFA in July.
And your reading of the salary cap is wildly off. If the cap goes up by the expected $5M, they’ll have to spend in the neighborhood of $10M to reach the floor, not 30.
jrynders
I guess the Ak Bars won the championship because they play the trap.
Bob_W
Given that the free agent market for quality goal tenders will be sparse this off-season and the fact that the Avs lack depth there I think that Sacic and his scouts need to be active and opportunistic in addressing that need. There will bemany other teams doing the same. I am pretty sure the Avs are not by any means done with evaluating and signing goal tenders.
Bob_W
Yeah, I know it’sspelled “Sakic”. I should proof read before I hit the “POST” button.
Chris DeMott
Joe is showing again why he belongs in his position – very proactive when he needs to be but also able hold his water when needed e.g. Duchenne. Also, this is one less guy that they will need to spend a draft pick on. Great signing.
AvsFinn
I bet you big bucks this is Jussi Parkkila’s doing. He’s very inside to the KHL goaltending scene. The Oilers did a great pick up in Mikko Koskinen. Because of this timing, I wonder if the Avs were trying go for him first as well. But if Jussi prefers Francouz over Koskinen then we’ve got a really really good one here.
Doubt anything happens at the goaltending position without Jussi’s input. He’s a big part of the organization
AvsFinn
Sure thing that’s why the big bucks on my bet. Just saying that because the KHL is a bit difficult to follow even in Europe, it’s hard to say much about this goalie. But if we knew Jussi prefered him over Koskinen who I is very well known across Europe, then I believe Francouz must be very good and could be trusted as the backup.
Nels
I apologize, I really don’t pay attention to the salary cap stuff. I thought that’s what I’ve heard you guys saying, 30 million to the floor, but I guess that’s what they can potentially spend and I heard wrong all this time.
So why didn’t Bernie get more than 2.5 and a real contract for this last season? It’s not like he was much better this season than last last. The goalie market was pretty week after last season too, right? What’s changed?
Did you see anything from Hamburler’s play this season with the Avs, or do his numbers in the 3+ games he played, justify your statement that he doesn’t even deserve a look at for a possible back-up roll?