Pavel Francouz

Francouz has proven to be a capable NHL goaltender in each of his first three seasons and last year was no exception. He made 21 regular-season appearances, finishing with a 15-5-1 record, 2.55 GAA and .916 save percentage. Francouz also played (and won) each of Colorado's four games against Edmonton in the Western Conference Finals. The Avalanche let No. 1 goaltender Darcy Kuemper walk as a free agent, bringing in Alexandar Georgiev from the Rangers as a replacement. Georgiev should be considered the favorite for playing time, but we're going to see plenty of Francouz as well. The 32-year-old has legitimate fantasy value in leagues which allow daily lineup changes. He'll be a plus start every time he plays.

Francouz appeared primed to split time with Philipp Grubauer last season on the heels of a rookie campaign in which he posted a 21-7-4 record, a 2.41 GAA and a .923 save percentage, but a lower-body injury ended up sidelining Francouz for the entire 2020-21 campaign. Clearly concerned about the durability of Francouz, Colorado went out and acquired Darcy Kuemper from the Coyotes via trade after Grubauer signed with the expansion Seattle Kraken as an unrestricted free agent. Kuemper is going to be the starter for the Avalanche given how much they gave up to acquire him (defenseman Conor Timmins, in addition to a first and third-round pick), leaving Francouz in a backup role and undraftable in leagues with weekly lineup changes.

Francouz was fantastic as a 29-year-old rookie in 2019-20, posting a 21-7-4 record while registering an impressive .923 save percentage and 2.41 GAA in 34 appearances. Philipp Grubauer will almost certainly enter the 2020-21 campaign as Colorado's No. 1 netminder due to his experience, but Francouz will be breathing down his neck, and it's quite possible the two end up splitting the starts pretty evenly if they perform similarly. There will be plenty of wins to go around for each backstop playing behind a championship-caliber Avalanche squad, and while Grubauer certainly has the edge in terms of overall value, Francouz has the makings of a nice No. 2 fantasy option that can be snagged in the middle rounds of this year's drafts.

With battle-tested veteran Semyon Varlamov dispatched to the Islanders in free agency, opportunity knocks for Francouz in the NHL. The lanky netminder -- who spent eight seasons honing his craft between a Czech league and the KHL -- posted a 27-20-1 record, 2.68 GAA and .918 save percentage for AHL Colorado in 2018-19. He stumbled in the Calder Cup playoffs, but not before making an All-Star appearance in the minors. Bound by a one-year, $950,000 contract, Francouz projects to serve as the No. 2 option behind Phillipp Grubauer in Denver this season, though he'll be hard-pressed to register more than 25 starts as an understudy to the emerging Grubauer.