The Avalanche lost goalie to the Vegas Golden Knights in Wednesday’s expansion draft in Las Vegas. Pickard, 25, was left unprotected instead of injury-plagued and big-salaried goalie , 29, who was traded from Washington to Colorado in 2011 by then-Capitals general manager George McPhee, now the Vegas GM.
Pickard led the NHL last-place Avs in save percentage (.904) and goals-against average (2.98) last season, in which Varlamov finished on injured reserve after undergoing hip and groin surgeries. Pickard, who is considered an ideal teammate, also had significantly better statistics than Varlamov in 2015-16.
In a text message, Pickard said he was surrounded by family during the expansion draft and requested to delay an interview with The Post until Thursday morning.
Varlamov’s $5.9 million cap hit over the next two seasons also was reason the Golden Knights were believed to have zero interest in the Russian.
In addition to Varlamov, the Avalanche protected seven forwards (Sven Andrighetto, , , Rocco Grimaldi, , , Matt Nieto) and three defensemen (, , ). First- and second-year players and unsigned prospects were exempt from the expansion draft.
