Although he had a down year ahead of the 2017 Expansion Draft,
Colorado Avalanche goalie
Semyon Varlamov has really bounced back in an impressive manner in the past year and a half, even if he's statistically not on the level of his Vezina-worthy 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons:
He and the team's top line, comprised of
Nathan MacKinnon,
Gabriel Landeskog and
Mikko Rantanen, have often been the sole bright spots on a team that currently sits tied for last place in its division (yet only four points behind a Wild Card spot, albeit in a gridlock with seven other teams) with 61 points (25-24-11) in 60 games.
The contrast between Varlamov and teammate
Philipp Grubauer is also stark:
The two former
Washington Capitals were supposed to platoon until the team feels KHL superstar
Pavel Francouz is ready to join the main team, but Varlamov seems like he's running with it despite his contract being up at the end of the year.
I strongly feel like he's the Avs' best shot in nets for the next two years, so they might want to re-up him, but if they don't, chances are he'll be traded for a couple of second-rounders to a team that will either lose its own #1 to a trade (
Columbus Blue Jackets) or a team (
Calgary Flames) whose number one (
Mike Smith) is having an inexplicably sub-par season.
I'm a pretty big fan of this card, which showcases Varlamov's NHL history as a member of both the Caps and Avs with a white jersey swatch from each one:
It's card #CL-SV from
Upper Deck's
2014-15 SP Game-Used Edition set and
Career Legacy sub-set.
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