shadow1
Registered User
- Nov 29, 2008
- 16,599
- 5,253
Philip Grubauer is a solid goalie. If Sakic had given him the same $5.9M x 6 deal that Seattle did, it would've freed up a lot of mental space for the fanbase because the goaltending would no longer have been a question mark.
But lets face it - Grubauer isn't going to live up to that deal. Frankly, he was inconsistent his first two years in Colorado and though he looked like a star for most of 2020-2021, the Avalanche gave up fewer shots per game than any team in the NHL in the last 8 years. Sakic basically called it out when asked about Grubauer signing in Seattle - "he helped us as much as we helped him."
My opinion on Darcy Kuemper is biased because I wanted the Avalanche to bring in him before they were linked to him. Ultimately, I feel like they brought in a star goalie. Kuemper's the type of goalie that can steal a playoff series, which the Avs haven't had in a long time.
There are obviously health concerns, but Colorado didn't bring in Kuemper to ride him into the ground during the regular season. Pavel Francouz can start 30-35 games and Jonas Johansson can fill in against some bottom feeders (Colorado plays Arizona and Buffalo a combined 6 times this year).
But lets face it - Grubauer isn't going to live up to that deal. Frankly, he was inconsistent his first two years in Colorado and though he looked like a star for most of 2020-2021, the Avalanche gave up fewer shots per game than any team in the NHL in the last 8 years. Sakic basically called it out when asked about Grubauer signing in Seattle - "he helped us as much as we helped him."
My opinion on Darcy Kuemper is biased because I wanted the Avalanche to bring in him before they were linked to him. Ultimately, I feel like they brought in a star goalie. Kuemper's the type of goalie that can steal a playoff series, which the Avs haven't had in a long time.
There are obviously health concerns, but Colorado didn't bring in Kuemper to ride him into the ground during the regular season. Pavel Francouz can start 30-35 games and Jonas Johansson can fill in against some bottom feeders (Colorado plays Arizona and Buffalo a combined 6 times this year).