Avs Re-Sign Calvin Pickard

The Colorado Avalanche have signed goaltender Calvin Pickard to a one-year contract extension, the team announced on Thursday. Details on the contract were not made available by the team and were not initially reported by any outlet.

Calvin “Captain” (probably, I hope) Pickard made his NHL debut last season, playing in 16 games with a 6-7-3 record and an impressive .932 all situation Sv%.

His even strength Sv% of .950 and adjusted Sv% of .952 were the highest marks in the NHL last year.

The #Avs have signed @cpickard1 for the upcoming 2015-16 season. pic.twitter.com/P2JFUph8xN

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) August 6, 2015

While those numbers are very impressive, they don’t mean a whole lot over such a small sample size. But the 23-year-old netminder should be able to earn some more time this season. Last year Reto Berra started as the backup and the team seemed to favor Pickard over Berra, but kept Pickard in the AHL most of the year to ensure his continued development.

That could happen again with Berra still on contract for another two years, but Berra, who played 19 games for the Avs, was patchy throughout the year. It was enough of an issue that it provoked coach Patrick Roy to say in a press conference that Berra “wasn’t hungry”.

Berra is in an odd position, where the team is grooming Pickard, but a part of that process is having Berra at the NHL level, even though they don’t appear to have as much interest in him, particularly with Pickard performing better at the NHL level last season and being five years Berra’s junior.

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