Do The Avalanche Trust Pavel Francouz?
Trust is a weird word. There are almost differing levels of trust. It’s almost like in a way, even if the person fails, you trust that they will be there for you to perform the best they possibly can. That’s exactly what Pavel Francouz is trying to convince the Colorado Avalanche right now.
Do you trust me?
Let’s call a spade a spade, at this point. Darcy Kuemper is a dead dog loser. He’s like watching a bad bet you made on a game when you know it’s a loser two minutes in. The Kuemper thing is done. Did you notice it had a weird smell on it even when the trade was first announced? Was that just me?
Do you trust me?
Francouz, 31, might almost be described as a young Rocky Balboa in a way. He’s a bit of a late bloomer, down on his luck, but god, he gives you a hell of a show most of the time he’s out there. Francouz has talent. We just never see it and when we do it came so late and unexpected that you really don’t know how to evaluate the situation moving forward.
In 34 games with the Avalanche during the 2019-20 season, Francouz notched .923 save percentage and goals against average of 2.41. Colorado gets those numbers right now and they’re a Cup winner. We’re talking about an All-Star, Bob!
Do you trust me?
Because that’s really the question, right? Do you trust Francouz to stay healthy? Because he’s never healthy (or at least hasn’t been in a long time). Francouz didn’t have any major injury issues overseas. Just the last two years or so have been shaky health wise. Do you trust the guy to not screw it up when you put him in net? Because we don’t have a large enough sample size either way to know. In reality, those are two different questions.
Colorado needs to trade for a goalie regardless. If you believe in Francouz, then you trade for a guy he can rotate with while moving on from that stench that comes from Darcy Kuemper.
If you don’t believe in Francouz, cut the cut and trade for someone Kuemper can rotate with because you have no other choice. This is the bed you have made.
Do you trust me?
Well, on the surface it seems like the Avalanche do. Jonas Johansson was already placed on waivers and you can’t take that one back. There are going to be a lot of names out there. Marc-Andre Fleury and Jonathan Quick are two potential names.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to Francouz.
Do you trust him?
The Avalanche are the most talented hockey team on the planet. Do you think Francouz will do enough to stay out of the way? That’s the question. It’s one the Avalanche need to answer by the trade deadline because the time to start winning Stanley Cups was yesterday.
FIGURE IT OUT!
