The Rangers have announced that Alex Georgiev has been traded to Colorado for third and fifth round picks in 2022 and a third round pick in 2023.
Georgiev was an RFA that was slated to have a qualifying offer of $2.6 million.
The picks in this draft that the Rangers acquired from Colorado are 97th overall and 161st overall.
Adam Rotter: The Rangers may have wanted a first round pick at one point and prospects or players at other points, but this is a good return for a player that we knew wasn’t going to be with the Rangers next year and who they probably would have had to let get away for nothing by not qualifying him.
Colorado obviously views Georgiev as part of a tandem because they are letting Stanley Cup winning goalie Darcy Kuemper test free agency. They clearly wanted Georgiev and were willing to pay a decent price to make sure that they got him and prevent him from testing free agency if he wasn’t qualified. Chris Drury and his former teammate Joe Sakic connected on this and made a deal that works for everyone. The Avs get a goalie and the Rangers get picks for someone who wasn’t going to be on the team next year.
Technically speaking it’s third and fifth rounders this year, but they are basically fourth and sixth rounders since Colorado has the last pick in each of those rounds. Still, three total picks for someone like Georgiev is probably the best return the Rangers were going to get. They can obviously use those picks but they could also be trade bait as the Rangers look to fill the second line center spot and/or make other moves.
I think Georgiev has talent and maybe he can be good for Colorado as their starter or at least in a tandem with Pavel Francouz. He came to the Rangers as an undrafted free agent, looked pretty good for a lot of the time he was paired with Henrik Lundqvist, but Igor Shesterkin came in, stole his thunder and Georgiev struggled with consistency. He still had some great outings, like that win in Carolina, won games and picked up big points for the Rangers, but everyone knew that Igor Shesterkin was the guy. The Avs seem to rarely miss when making moves and so maybe Georgiev becomes a consistent starter there or maybe the Avs make a move to replace him at the deadline next year.
Next for the Rangers is figuring out who will take Georgiev’s place as Igor Shesterkin’s backup.