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Avalanche sign goalie Pavel Francouz to 2-year extension

Avalanche

DENVER, COLORADO - FEBRUARY 17: Goaltender Pavel Francouz #39 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Pepsi Center on February 17, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

The Colorado Avalanche announced on Friday afternoon that they have signed goalie Pavel Francouz to a two-year contract extension that runs through the end of the 2021-22 season.

Financial terms of the deal were not released by the team, but it is reportedly worth an annual salary cap hit of $2 million.

“We are excited to have Pavel under contract for another two seasons,” said Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic in a statement released by the team. “He has been an important part of our team this year and has performed really well, especially when we needed it most. He is a hard-working professional, a great teammate and has earned his opportunity in the NHL.”

After spending eight years playing professionally in Europe, Francouz made the jump to North America for the 2018-19 season when he signed a one-year deal with the Avalanche. After a promising year in the AHL, he won the backup job at the start of this season behind Philipp Grubauer. He has ended up playing a bigger role than the Avalanche probably expected, having already appeared in 24 games this season. He has been outstanding in those games, posting a .924 save percentage to go with a 14-5-3 record.

Francouz would have been eligible for unrestricted free agency after this summer without a new contract.

With his deal completed, the Avalanche now have their two goalies signed for a combined salary cap hit of just $5.3 million next season. Based on what they have done this season that would make them an absolute steal against the salary cap, something that the entire Avalanche roster currently looks like.

MORE: PHT’s 2020 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker

Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.