By Jordan Long
The Colorado Avalanche will take on the Arizona Coyotes tonight as they look to improve on their 19-8-2 record. The Avalanche have primarily started goaltender Philipp Grubauer who has played a part in 25 of Colorado’s 29 games. Grubauer has a record of 18-7 with an outstanding goals against average of 1.74 and a save percentage of .929. The Avalanche know they need to give Grubauer a night off so they don’t wear him out before the playoffs start. The Colorado Avalanche decided it was time to trade for a backup goaltender, acquiring Jonas Johansson from the Buffalo Sabers for a 6th-round draft pick.
The Colorado Avalanche were hoping the backup goaltender this year was going to be Pavel Francouz. Unfortunately, Francouz has been on injured reserved the whole season. It is not known when or if he can play at some point this season. Colorado decided to go with Hunter Miksa as the backup.
Miska didn’t see the puck as well as Grubauer. It wasn’t all his fault since the defense in front of him couldn’t skate the puck out of the defensive end. Miska gave up easy rebounds as well as shots that went into the back of the net that he should have saved. In his 5 starts, Miska is 1-1-2 with a goals against average of 4.16 and a save percentage of .838, not the numbers the Avs want to see.
Colorado has been in the market all year for a backup. The Avalanche decided to pull the trigger for Johansson. A 6th-round draft pick is a small price for him. Johansson has been with the Buffalo Sabers, one of the worst run franchises in the NHL, for the past two years. Last season Johansson’s record was 1-3-1 with a goals against average of 2.94 and a save percentage of .894. The Sabers were expecting better results from Johansson this season. He hasn’t improved with a record of 0-5-1, a goals against average of 3.79 and a save percentage of .884.
Colorado is taking a chance on Johansson. The Avalanche don’t have a plan on when his first game will be. According to ESPN, Head Coach Jared Bednar said, “We’ll look at him here first and make a decision on what our plan is for him. He’s been on a steady progression getting better and on a good development path.”
Colorado knows they must upgrade the backup goaltender position. On paper, Johansson doesn’t seem like the right goaltender. He hasn’t shown the ability to stop the puck for the Sabers. It could be all Johansson needed was a new city. He has his chance to prove he can be the backup to Grubauer. If Johansson struggles, that might mean Colorado needs to look at other options. For now, Colorado will give Johansson an opportunity to be the backup.
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