DENVER -- The Colorado Avalanche have signed goaltender Pavel Francouz of the Czech Republic to a one-year deal.
Francouz, 27, played the past three seasons in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League as a member of Traktor Chelyabinsk. Francouz went 15-11-5 with a 1.80 goals-against average in 2017-18.
Francouz played for the Czech Republic in February during the Pyeongchang Olympics, where he went 2-2 with a 2.27 goals-against average.
Colorado relied on goaltender Semyon Varlamov this season, but he suffered a knee injury and was sidelined down the stretch and into the first round of the playoffs. Backup Jonathan Bernier is set to become a free agent; so is Andrew Hammond, who was picked up as part of a three-team trade in November that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa.