Goalie Calvin Pickard will be in a Colorado Avalanche sweater for at least another year as he awaits his chance to take over the primary duties behind Semyon Varlamov. The team announced Thursday the new agreement with the 23-year-old goalie.
Last season Pickard played in 16 games and had a 6-7 record. He also had three OTLs on the season. He made 511 saves for a. 932 SV percentage. In shootouts, he had a 2-1 record with 13 GA saves, four GA and a. 692 SV percentage. But that is only a part of the story.
Pickard, who had five separate stints with the Avalanche throughout the year, was leading the NHL with a .936 Sv% when he was reassigned to Lake Erie at the NHL All-Star Break on Jan. 22.
Pickard did heavy lifting with Colorado’s (now former) AHL affiliate, Lake Erie, logging 66 games between the big club and “the A” last year. His 1,412 saves in 50 games with Lake Erie were good for fourth in the AHL.
The move likely indicates that Pickard will be the No. 2 goalie behind Varlamov. Selected by Colorado in the second round (49th overall) of the 2010 Entry Draft, Pickard spent the last three seasons with the Monsters. He became Lake Erie’s all-time wins leader earlier this year with his 52nd AHL victory on March 8 vs. Chicago.
Although it is only a one-year deal, it appears Pickard’s time has come to make a permanent move to the NHL.
Marcus Flowers, a Mile High Sports intern and Claflin University student, contributed to this report
