By Jordan Long
The Colorado Avalanche found their backup goaltender for this season and possibly the starter for years to come. They traded for Philipp Grubauer and defenseman Brooks Orpik giving up a 2nd-round draft pick. Colorado bought Orpik out of his contract, letting him become a free agent. Grubauer then signed a 3-year deal worth $10 million with the Avalanche.
The Avalanche know how important the goaltender position is. They have Semyon Varlamov, but he hasn’t been healthy since 2016. Colorado couldn’t trust him to be 100%. They took a gamble on Grubauer.
According to ESPN, General Manager Joe Sakic said, “We all feel that he’s ready to take the next step and become a No. 1. We’re excited to have two No. 1 goalies.”
Grubauer started in 28 games for the Washington Capitals. In those games he was 15-10-3 with a 2.35 goals against average. He was seeing the puck well and didn’t allow rebounds or second chance opportunities for the opponents with a .923 save percentage in the regular season.
In the Stanley Cup Playoff run for Washington, Grubauer played in 2 games and his record was 0-1. He didn’t play well with a 4.55 goals against average and an unimpressive save percentage of .837. The Capitals finished the playoffs with Braden Holtby who went 16-7 with a 2.16 goals against average and save percentage of .922. Holtby led the team to win the Stanley Cup.
For the Avalanche the deal makes sense. Grubauer has the opportunity to be the number 1 goaltender for the next few years. Varlamov enters the last year of his contract and once it is up, who knows if Colorado will keep him. With Grubauer at least Colorado knows he will still be on the roster once free agency starts next year. Only time will tell, but on paper this was an excellent move.
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