By Jordan Long
The Colorado Avalanche sit at 36-19-5 for 77 points, 3rd in the Central Division. The Avalanche look to improve that record tonight when they face Chicago. Colorado could improve their team at the trade deadline which is March 8th.
One position they may look at is a backup goaltender to Alexandar Georgiev. Georgiev is playing well with a 31-14-3 record. His save percentage is .900 with a goals against average of 2.88. Colorado knows Georgiev will make the save.
The problem is Colorado doesn’t have an adequate backup goaltender. Their backup Pavel Francouz has been out the whole year dealing with a lower body injury. Colorado used Ivan Prosvetov but he struggled, playing in 11 games. His record is 4-3-1 with a save percentage of .895. His goals against average was 3.16. Colorado saw he wasn’t playing well at the NHL level and sent him down to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL (American Hockey League).
The other goaltender Colorado tried as a backup is Justus Annunen who they sent up from the Colorado Eagles on January 13th. He saw action in 4 games with Colorado. His record stands at 1-2-1 with a save percentage of .898 with a goals against average of 3.50. Both of these goaltenders had a chance to back up Georgiev and haven’t looked great.
Colorado thought about targeting Marc-Andre Fleury but Minnesota will not be trading him. Targets for Colorado are Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen.
Allen is the backup goaltender in Montreal. His stats aren’t great. Allen’s record is 5-12-3 with a save percentage of .892 and a goals against average of 3.69. Montreal is struggling with a 23-28-8 record. Moving Allen gives him a fresh start. Allen also has NHL playoff experience appearing in 29 playoff games all with St. Louis from 2012 to 2020. His record in the postseason stands at 11-11 with a save percentage of .924 and a goals against average of 2.06.
Allen wouldn’t be a rental. He has one more year left in his contract. Colorado may shy away just because of that.
Kahkonen makes more sense. His contract is over after this year meaning he is a true rental player. Kahkonen is on the San Jose Sharks roster. San Jose is tied with Chicago for the least amount of points in the NHL at 35. Kahkonen’s record is 6-18-2 with a save percentage of .901 and a goals against average of 3.63.
The only downside with Kahkonen is he has never played in the postseason. If Colorado makes a deal for him, it would be the first time in his NHL career he is on a winning team.
Colorado knows the trade deadline is approaching. General Manager Chris MacFarland and President of Hockey Operations Joe Sakic will call teams for deals as they head into the stretch run for the playoffs.
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