Philipp Grubauer just took an important step toward the future

We’ve known this game was coming since June 22, 2018.

That was the day of the first round of the NHL Draft and just as things were getting underway the Avalanche secured their goaltender of the future by acquiring Philipp Grubauer, the top backup on the market looking to take the next step.

After watching Andrew Hammond start multiple playoff games, Colorado’s aggression on the goaltender market made sense. What was curious, however, was their decision to stick with incumbent Semyon Varlamov despite trading a second-round selection for Grubauer and subsequently signing him to a three-year contract.

The writing has been on the wall and nearly six months to the day we finally saw the situation play out where Grubauer begins to take hold of the starting goaltender job in Denver.

It’s been Varlamov’s job for the last eight years as he’s ensconced himself as the second-best goaltender to ever play for the Avalanche. But tonight’s 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens might just be the beginning of the end of Varlamov’s lengthy tenure here in Denver.

“It was good,” Grubauer said of his feeling tonight. “I saw the puck, felt really good, and will try to get that into the next game.”

Grubauer stopped short of saying this was his best game of the season (“I thought the one in Carolina was really good,” he said of his performance against the Hurricanes where he gave up one goal on 43 shots), it might have been the most important given the recent struggles of his counterpart.

The 30-year-old Varlamov had such a strong start to the season that Colorado was comfortable giving him the net regularly and letting him aid in their point pile up in the standings. However, a disastrous five-game stretch kicked open the door of job security and tonight’s 35-save performance by Grubauer should be the beginning of a changing of the guard.

Varlamov has seen his save percentage go from .930 to .913 in just five games. He’s been pulled twice by one of the league’s most patient head coaches. He’s given up 21 goals in those appearances after shutting out the Detroit Red Wings on December 2.

Given we’ve seen this time and time again with Varlamov, there’s a much higher chance this is just a poor stretch of play from the veteran goaltender. The difference, however, is the presence of the ambitious Grubauer. The 27-year-old German didn’t come to the Avalanche to play second fiddle.

The three-year commitment Colorado gave to Grubauer while not extending Varlamov, an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, was Colorado showing its hand to the hockey world: Grubauer is their guy…eventually.

Just a little over two months into the season, and that eventually may have finally arrived. Grubauer’s own play hasn’t exactly been stellar while Varlamov’s game has gone full-blown Chernobyl but he’s given up three or fewer goals in six of his last seven starts.

Grubauer’s save percentage sits at just .904 after tonight’s shutting down of the Canadiens but in a league where your most recent performance is your most important, you can see where this might be headed.

“I just felt like [Grubauer] was looked really solid in the net tonight, like he was in control of the game tonight,” coach Jared Bednar said. “I haven’t felt that way about our goaltending for the last little bit and that’s what we need. We need those guys to take control but be real sharp and on top of their game to give us a chance to find ourselves.

We’ve been kind of waiting for a guy to grab here it here. I’ll think about it and make my decision tomorrow on who is going to play [Friday against Chicago].”

Regardless of what happens this weekend, Philipp Grubauer’s time as the goaltender of the future may be coming to a close. Tonight’s win over Montreal brought him one step closer to being the goaltender of the present.