Avalanche place backup goalie on LTIR

The Colorado Avalanche placed backup netminder Pavel Francouz on long-term injured reserve, providing the necessary cap space for the club to recall two players: forward Riley Tufte and netminder Justus Annunen.

Francouz remains out dealing with a long-term injury, and the Avalanche have been proactive in shoring up their backup goalie job in his absence. The club claimed former Arizona Coyotes netminder Ivan Prosvetov off of waivers yesterday, and now appear to be setting up for Annunen and Prosvetov to compete for starts behind starter Alexandar Georgiev.

Tufte, like Prosvetov, found himself on season-opening waivers although he ended up unclaimed. That allowed the Avalanche to temporarily stash the 2016 first-round pick in the AHL before returning him to the NHL today.

Tufte is a hulking six-foot-six winger whose offense never quite developed as hoped, though he did score 19 goals in the AHL last season. He’s slated to grapple for a bottom-six role in head coach Jared Bednar’s lineup this season.