DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche have signed goaltender Pavel Francouz of the Czech Republic to a one-year deal.

The 27-year-old played the last 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 suited up for Czech Republic in February during the Pyeongchang Olympics, where he went 2-2 with a 2.27 goals-against average.

Colorado relied on Semyon Varlamov this season, but he was sidelined down the stretch and into the first round of the playoffs with a knee injury. Backup Jonathan Bernier is set to become a free agent, along with Andrew Hammond who was picked up as part of a three-team trade in November that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa.

___

More NHL hockey: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey