Pavel Francouz signs two-year extension with Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche have signed goaltender Pavel Francouz to a two-year contract extension with a $2 million AAV.

The extension is about as literal as the term extension gets in sports, as it’s the same contract that he signed two years ago with the Avs, as he’s making $2 million a year off his current deal. It was also signed around this time two years ago.

The Czech goaltender is in his third NHL season, with a 10-3-1 record and a .920 save percentage in 14 games after missing all of last season due to injury. He’s been excellent in his career when he’s played, with a .923 save percentage, but a lot of injuries have meant that he has only 50 NHL games to his name. His limited playoff resume hasn’t been quite as strong, as he has a 2-4 record with an .892 save percentage, all coming in the bubble in 2020 when Philipp Grubauer was injured before getting injured himself.

Francouz has been a sturdy backup goalie behind Darcy Kuemper for the Avalanche and has helped them get to a league-best 41-13-5 record, including two games in which he helped them to a win in relief.