The Colorado Avalanche injury woes are getting worse. Backup goaltender Pavel Francouz exited Tuesday night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets less than a minute into the action. Francouz had been the primary netminder with Philipp Grubauer recovering from a minor lower-body injury. He is now day-to-day while in concussion protocol. Kyle Fredrickson of The Denver Post tweeted the news early Thursday afternoon.
Bednar confirms that goalie Pavel Francouz is in the concussion protocol:
"You could tell right away Francouz was out on the ice. … You never like to see that, but he seems to be doing fine. It's just going to take him a few days."
— Kyle Fredrickson (@kylefredrickson) November 14, 2019
Pavel Francouz Exits Early
Francouz was removed from Tuesday’s game after a collision with Jets forward Mark Scheifele. Scheifele had been charging the net holding off Samuel Girard at the same time. Girard was able to pull off but Scheifele wasn’t and ran Francouz back into his net, hard. Francouz hit his head on the post but was able to leave the ice under his own power. Adam Werner took his spot in net for his NHL debut. The 22-year-old was originally taken in the 5th round of the 2016 NHL Draft. His AHL stats included a .908 Save Percentage and 2.88 Goals-Against-Average.
Francouz had looked every inch a quality NHL backup. The 29-year-old has appeared in six games, starting five of them. He has four wins, a .915 SV% and 2.82 GAA. Francouz was looking like a smart investment after performing well both internationally and last season in the AHL but this derails some progress. Fans certainly hope Francouz returns soon considering how Colorado’s thin depth at goaltending.
What This Means for the Future
Tuesday was expected to be Francouz’s final consecutive start. Grubauer’s absence could also extend further into this week; the team has recalled trade acquisition Antoine Bibeau to backup Werner. Grubauer sat out of the past several games recovering from a lower-body injury. Expect Werner to remain a factor depending on Grubauer and Francouz’s respective recoveries. The young Swede had an excellent debut against Winnipeg allowing no goals on 40 shots.
An extended absence for Francouz could result in Colorado making a trade for another goalie. The depth behind Werner, including Bibeau, is even more unproven and would be a great concern should someone else go down. Colorado has survived to this point but needs to think about how much further their current depth can take them.
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