DENVER • The Avalanche have locked up their goalie of the future.

Colorado signed Alexandar Georgiev to a three-year, $3.4 million per year contract, the team announced Sunday. This comes after the Avalanche traded for Georgiev from the New York Rangers on Thursday, in exchange for third-round and fifth-round picks in the 2022 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

“When he was a starter, he played really well, and he wanted a bigger opportunity, and he’s got that opportunity,” Avalanche GM Joe Sakic said Thursday at the NHL Draft in Montreal. “He was looking forward to the challenge. What I like about it, he played in a big market. He was in New York. He can deal with a lot of that stuff. We’re excited for him.”

Georgiev has a 15-10-2 record last in goal for the Rangers and was 8-1 in his final nine appearances. He had a .898 save percentage and 2.92 goals-against average.

The Avalanche now have Georgiev and backup Pavel Francouz under contract for at least the next two seasons, as Francouz is set to become a free agent in 2024. Colorado has also officially moved on from Darcy Kuemper, who was the Avalanche’s starting goalie in 2021-22 and helped them win the Stanley Cup. 

Avalanche move on from Darcy Kuemper, trade for Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev

Paul Klee: Cheers to Stanley Cup champ Darcy Kuemper — and welcome to new Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev