Avs swing a trade with the rangers for 26-year-old goaltender; Kuemper headed to free agency next week
A few weeks ago, Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev requested a trade knowing that the net in New York belongs to Igor Shesterkin. Georgiev wants a chance to be a number 1 and today, he got his wish as the Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche completed a trade for the Russian netminder in exchange for two third round picks and a fifth round pick as follows:
2022 third round pick
2022 fifth round pick
2023 third round pick
Just yesterday the Avs held discussions with the agent for Darcy Kuemper, but according to Frank Seravalli, they never made an offer for Kuemper to consider. They were more cordial discussions, as the Avs knew they would not be able to afford the raise Kuemper was asking for. Kuemper will now hit the open market and garner a ton of interest and will likely see a salary of $6M+ per season.
Georgiev is only 26 and an RFA with arbitration rights so his next contract will come in far below what Kuemper will get on the open market, giving the Avs more cap space to attempt to resign Valeri Nichuskin, Nazem Kadri and Alex Burakovsky and prepare for the massive extension that they need to sign Nathan MacKinnon to next year.
