The Colorado Avalanche is dealing with its first significant bit of short-term injury-induced adversity, but there is clarity with one of its long-term concerns.
Pavel Francouz will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season, the club announced Sunday. He has not been on the ice with the team this season. Francouz, originally projected to be the No. 2 goaltender behind Alexandar Georgiev, played in only one of the team’s final 33 games last season and had offseason surgery.
Francouz has been a successful goalie for the Avs when healthy, but remaining so has been difficult. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent after this season. He joins Gabriel Landeskog on the list of players who will not return this season, though there could be a long-shot hope that the club’s captain might make it back at some point during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
For now, this means Colorado has $9 million in salary relief above the league’s cap ceiling because Landeskog ($7 million) and Francouz ($2 million) will spend the rest of the regular season on long-term injured reserve. The Avs used most of the Landeskog relief while building the 2023-24 roster, but the Francouz money does allow the club a little more flexibility with recalling players from the Eagles in the AHL, or pursuing an addition in a trade later in the season.
Colorado also signed forward Joel Kiviranta to a one-year, two-way NHL contract. He had been playing for the Eagles on an AHL deal and was in camp with the Avalanche on a player-tryout contract. Kiviranta, who had two goals and six points in 10 games for the Eagles, could join the Avs in Seattle for their game Monday night.
The team also recalled defenseman Sam Malinski. Coach Jared Bednar said there were several players banged up after an 8-2 loss Saturday night to St. Louis, not to mention forwards Artturi Lehkonen and Andrew Cogliano, who missed the Blues game because of injuries.
If Malinski plays against the Kraken, it would be his NHL debut. If Kiviranta or defenseman Caleb Jones, who was recalled before the St. Louis game, feature in the lineup, it was be their Avalanche debut.
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