It is official. Alexandar Georgiev is gone! According to Adam Gretz of NBC Sports, the NY Rangers traded the goalie to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a 2022 third-round and fifth-round draft pick along with a 2023 third-round draft pick.
Pierre LeBrun from TSN Hockey says sources also confirmed Darcy Kuemper is out and that he is heading to the free agent market on Wednesday. Kuemper is too expensive to retain and is set to be an unrestricted free agent, which free agency begins July 13. Since Georgiev is now part of the team, it wasn’t looking good for Kuemper to begin with.
In his career, Georgiev played 129 games with the Rangers. His career save percentage (SV%) is .908 and he has a 2.94 goals-against average (GAA). The 2021-2022 season was one of his worst in SV% at .898. He played in 33 games with the Rangers this past season.
The NY Rangers trading Alexandar Georgiev makes sense for the future
Kuemper has been in the league longer than Georgiev and has played on the Minnesota Wild, the Los Angeles Kings, the Arizona Coyotes, and the Avalanche. His career SV% is .918 and his career GAA is 2.48. He has 299 career games played. Georgiev has big shoes to fill.
I am happy Georgiev is gone though because he wasn’t the best backup goalie. He did have his moments, which is why I was on the fence about getting rid of him in the first place, but the Rangers need more consistency.
I guess we will see if Georgiev is a good fit for the Avalanche. It will be hard for him to do what Kuemper did, but is it possible. I guess we have to wait till next season. Until then, we have the NHL draft to look forward to.