Agree on just about all of this. I typically appreciate the Avs cautious approach and aversion to panic moves. I think, in the case of their goaltending, a roll of the dice is warranted. My take on Gibson is that he’s been on a terrible team and maybe playing on a team with aspirations will help. It’s hard when a goalie needs to be the best player on the ice every game. Hasek did it and he’s in the HoF, so it’s the exception not the rule.

As far as stats go, I try my best not to use them to confirm bias, but of course it’s hard to avoid. Even the eye test tells us that while the Avs D breaks down, Georgiev just isn’t good enough regularly to bail them out. He’s had only a few solid games this year, lets in the first goal of the game way too often, is rarely the better of the two goalies in a game, and allows goals in the first 10 shots all the time. It’s damaging to a team’s psyche to have all of that as your last line of defense in a league that is so 50-50 these days.

You make many good points. I’m not a stats guy as I think one uses them to “prove your point” while somebody else could provide different stats to prove a contradictory counterpoint. I grant you that Georgie gives up far too many rebounds, which is a significant flaw. I think management needs to be cautious about chasing “opportunities” as the solution. Again, if Gibson is so great to command a $6M salary, why is he not starting? I grant he was a very good goalie in his day but I imagine something has soured his management on him perhaps only because of his injury record. I am one that finds it dangerous to always go looking for the “greener pasture” solution to problems. PS Defensively, the Av’s need a lock down defensemen that can clear the front of the net and also eliminate the “back door play”. They need to clear up the Landy topic and use the $7M to bring in some players with a different skill set then their current group of defensemen.

Not sure if it is intentional, but you make it sound as if it is easy for other teams to take away the Avs firepower with a forecheck or trap. Don’t most teams want to get their forecheck going against every team? Don’t we hear every coach post-game either praise their forecheck after a win or lament that they couldn’t get the forecheck going after a loss? Avs defense hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t been abysmal either. Their 5v5 defense is a little below league average and the main issue is the backdoor play that every team seems to try against the Avs. Fix that and they are an excellent 5v5 defensive team. Their 5v5 Corsi numbers are over 54% and third in the league. They give up way too many high danger chances, many of which appear to come from the uncontrolled rebounds given up by their goalies. Georgiev is especially prone to this and he gets way out of position regularly.

Their PK is not as bad as their kill percentage suggests, either. They are above league average in xGA while on the PK. It’s their goaltending that has let them down 5v5 and on the PK. I certainly hope that the Avs move Georgiev and find a spark from the moves. The mentality of the team appears fragile these days and after Annuen or Georgiev gives up the seemingly inevitable first goal on one of the first 5 shots, they are chasing the game almost immediately.

I hope the Avs trade Georgiev sooner rather than later. The closer they get to the deadline, the less time the new guy will have to adjust to being on a new team. I think the expensive part of the trade and the part we all worry about is who they have to give up to get the salary retention the Avs will need from the other team.