Georgiev's Revenge

When the New York Rangers traded Alexandar Georgiev this off season it was not a surprise to many people. Georgiev started his NHL career in New York as the backup to Henrik Lundqvist. While the King was a great mentor to learn from, you're not going to get to play too many games in that position. Then, as it seemed Lundqvist was starting to slow down, the Rangers called up Igor Shesterkin who quickly took over the starting job. After the 21-22 season, Georgiev had been a backup goalie for 5 years and was not satisfied with his limited minutes, understandably so. Every goalie wants to play more, and it can be extremely frustrating when you don't get the ice time you feel you deserve. No one can argue that Shesterkin didn't earn the starting role with his incredible play, but Georgiev still had a valid reason to be upset. So, the Rangers traded him to Colorado to be the starting goalie there, fresh off of their Stanley Cup win. Georgiev signed a contract extension there and has had a great start to the season with his new team. Through his first 12 starts he is 9-2-0-1 with a save % of .929, a GAA of 2.4, and +8 GSAx.

I always thought of Georgiev as a good goalie when he had consistent starts. The problem was, behind King Henrik and Shesterkin, he only found consistent minutes when one of them was injured, and those opportunities were short-lived. In his new starting role in Colorado he is definitely getting consistent starts and making the most of them.

I decided to compare Georgiev's GSAx in his first 10 games last season with New York to his first 10 this season in Colorado. The results were exactly as I expected. Through 10 games this season he has a GSAx of +5.74. Last season, after 10 starts his GSAx was -5.46, a complete flip. I decided to compare his GSAx because that eliminates the "Colorado's defense is inflating his numbers" argument.

Comparing Georgiev's cumulative GSAx through his first 10 starts of this season, 2022-23 (blue), to last season (red)

Georgiev had 8 of his first 10 starts with a positive GSAx this year, compared to last year having only 5 positive starts.

The main difference I see is the timeframe of these 10 starts. Last season Georgiev started his 10th game on December 14th, 2 months into the season. This year, Georgiev's 10th start came on November 14th, just one month into the season. Georgiev has gotten the same amount of starts in half the time. In addition to regular minutes, Coach Bednar has outright said that Georgiev is their starter. That kind of confidence from your coach allows you to feel comfortable and know that if you have one bad game it's not gonna get you glued to the bench for a week or more. Having those two factors, lots of playing time and confidence from your coach, make any transition to a new team much smoother.

In addition to his improved overall play, I'm sure it felt great having his best performance of the season against his old team at MSG, where he stopped 44/46 to help his new team win 3-2 in a shootout, while stopping 2.18 goals above expected.

The trade has worked out great for both Georgiev and the Avalanche, who were in search of a new starter after losing Darcy Kuemper to the Washington Capitals. I am excited to watch Georgiev hopefully continue to thrive in his new found home of Denver, Colorado.