Pavel Francouz to miss remainder of 2023-2024 season
Pavel Francouz will continue to miss significant time. The Colorado Avalanche officially confirmed Sunday that the backup goalie will be out the remainder of the 2023-2024 season and stay on LTIR with a lower-body injury.
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season due to a lower-body injury. He will return to the Czech Republic with his family for rest of the year. pic.twitter.com/HoinjxUdEM
&mdash; Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) November 12, 2023
The Czech goalie has played in parts of four seasons in Colorado and will be a free agent this summer. He holds a career record of 44-21-6 with four shutouts, a .919 save percentage and a 2.49 goals-against average. Fans will not forget his presence in the crease in the years leading up to their 2022 Stanley Cup championship.
Ivan Provestov will have to replace Francouz for the long haul, though he has not had the greatest start to the season. The former Coyotes netminder currently has a .899 save percentage and 2.90 goals against average in four appearances during 2023-2024.
Does this move create any possibility that Chris MacFarland looks into the trade market?
Colorado Cult Hero:
The 33-year-old is not a showstopper in net, but he has certainly had his moments in burgundy and blue. Most importantly, he held the fort down throughout the 2022 playoffs. While Darcy Kuemper was the starter, he was not always available.
In his place, the Czech veteran did a very honorable job with an obviously great team in front of him. His 5-0-0 record in six appearances is all you need to see. The most infamous of those five wins was a shutout in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers.
For the first time since before his debut, the Avs may now need a change in net. Alexander Georgiev has not exactly set the world on fire to start the season. LTIR means that MacFarland has an extra $2 million to play with. While the new extension for Devon Toews could cause some penny-pinching down the road, this team needs immediate help.
Colorado is currently second in the Central Division, but I shouldn’t be the one to tell you how much of a gauntlet the Western Conference is. Having a steady hand in the net to go with Georgiev will pay dividends in April and May.
Pavel Francouz has not played all year and that is not going to change. The Avalanche’s longtime backup goalie will miss the rest of the season.
