Earlier this season, Alexandar Georgiev found himself in the minors with Buffalo and decided to ask for his release to sign a two-year deal in the KHL. Now, he has requested and was granted his release from KHL Spartak, per a league announcement. His agent Stanislav Romanov told Hockey News Hub (Twitter link) that Georgiev’s intention is to return to the NHL next season.
There was a time early in his NHL career when Georgiev was viewed as a high-end backup with the potential of being a starter. He ultimately received that opportunity in Colorado and while the first year in 2022-23 went well, things went downhill after that. He was eventually sent to San Jose in the 2024-25 campaign and hit the open market last summer.
But even though he had been a starter in recent years, Georgiev’s struggles ultimately resulted in him having to settle for a one-year, $850K pact with the Sabres just days before training camp started. He ultimately wound up passing through waivers in training camp and then terminated his deal after just two appearances with AHL Rochester.
Georgiev put up respectable numbers with Spartak overall, posting a 2.37 GAA with a .918 SV% in 24 appearances, numbers that were around the middle of the pack for starters. With that in mind, it’d be surprising if his chances of securing an NHL backup job are any better than they were a year ago.
This year’s UFA crop of goaltenders is headlined by veteran Sergei Bobrovsky and Stuart Skinner with the rest of the options being backups in all likelihood. Georgiev will join them now but it wouldn’t be surprising if his market winds up being like last summer’s, one that sees him having to wait for a while before accepting what’s likely to be more of a third-string role.
He looks like the next Leafs Starter lol
Him and Evgeni Kuznetsov. Good luck there bro.