Sharks general manager Mike Grier has informed goaltender Alexandar Georgiev he won’t be offered a contract extension before reaching unrestricted free agency in July, Georgiev told Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News late last night.
It’s been a difficult two seasons for the 29-year-old. While he led the league in wins in back-to-back seasons behind a powerhouse Avalanche team in 2022-23 and 2023-24, he didn’t receive any Vezina Trophy consideration in the latter year due to poor individual stats. The Bulgarian native posted a .897 SV% and 3.02 GAA in 63 games for Colorado last year, below-average numbers at face value. The Avs bled quality chances against more than usual in 2023-24, though, so those stats still translated to 5.0 goals saved above expected on the year, per MoneyPuck.
But heading into 2024-25, Georgiev’s seat in Colorado was hot as he entered the final season of a three-year, $10.2MM deal. Young backup Justus Annunen had outperformed him down the stretch, and he was underwhelming in the Avs’ playoff action. Georgiev had a .894 SV% and 2.95 GAA in 11 games as Colorado was ousted in the second round by the Stars.
Both Georgiev and Annunen were borderline unplayable at the beginning of this year, and both were traded by mid-December. Annunen went to Nashville for veteran backup Scott Wedgewood, while Georgiev was sent to the Sharks in a deal for Mackenzie Blackwood after posting a porous .874 SV%, 3.38 GAA, and an 8-7-0 record through 17 starts and one relief appearance.
As expected, things only improved marginally for Georgiev behind one of the league’s worst defenses in San Jose. He was a workhorse for the team with top prospect Yaroslav Askarov and backup Vítek Vaněček missing significant time with injuries (and the latter ended up being traded to the Panthers at the deadline), starting 30 of 52 games after the trade. He logged a 7-19-4 record, a .875 SV%, and a 3.88 GAA. Across 49 showings on the year, his lowest workload since 2021-22, he allowed 17.9 goals above expected, according to MoneyPuck. Only the Flyers’ Samuel Ersson (19.9) conceded more.
With Askarov primed to take on a starter/1A role in the NHL next season and more stable backup options available on the free agent market, it makes sense that the Sharks wouldn’t be interested in bringing Georgiev back to the organization. Whether there will be NHL offers available for Georgiev remains to be seen. There might be a couple of teams banking on a rebound to at least league-average play amid a relatively thin goalie market this summer, but otherwise, a return to Europe may be in the cards. Before arriving in North America with the Rangers as an undrafted free agent in 2017, he was a star in Finland’s Liiga with TPS, posting a .920 SV% across 51 games there.
Photo courtesy of D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images.