The Colorado Avalanche have signed goaltender Adam Werner to a two-year entry-level contract. The Swedish netminder played in the SHL this season, but won’t be completely unfamiliar with the Avalanche organization. Werner played four games for the San Antonio Rampage in 2018—then the Colorado AHL affiliate—on an amateur tryout contract before returning to Sweden.
Werner, 22, was originally selected by the Avalanche in the fifth round of the 2016 draft. The 6’5″ goaltender performed extremely well in his first full year in the SHL, posting a .926 save percentage through 26 starts for Farjestad. That was good enough for third in the entire league among goaltenders who made more than ten appearances, while his 2.02 goals against average ranked fourth.
That kind of production is exactly what the Avalanche hoped to see this season, as they obviously were interested in bringing Werner into the organization. The two-year deal doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be coming to North America right away, but there isn’t a ton of depth standing in his way if he does. Minor league goaltenders Joe Cannata and Pavel Francouz are both unrestricted free agents come July, while prospect Spencer Martin will become a restricted free agent once again. The team may also lose UFA Semyon Varlamov off the NHL roster if he chooses not to re-sign, leaving Philipp Grubauer as the only other goaltender in the organization with a contract for 2019-20 at the moment.