The Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday announced the signing of goaltender Pavel Francouz to a one-year, $690,000 contract.
The Avs confirmed Francouz, 27, was signed to a one-way NHL deal, which could mean he will be ‘s backup and the club won’t re-sign pending unrestricted free agents (who made $2.75 million this season) or Andrew Hammond ($1.35 million).
But because Francouz is a first-year professional, he is waiver-exempt if the Avs reassign him to the American Hockey League.
The Czech Republic-born Francouz spent the last three seasons with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia. He went 15-11-5 last season with a 1.80 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage.
The 6-foot-1, 179-pound goaltender represented the Czech Republic at the PyeongChang Olympics and will compete for his country at the 2018 IIHF World Championship in Denmark — his fifth time representing Czech Republic in the annual competition.
