Avalanche’s Erik Johnson, Pavel Francouz coming off lost seasons

Thirty-somethings Erik Johnson and Pavel Francouz are back in the Avalanche fold after the defenseman was limited to four games last season and the goalie didn’t play at all.

On Day 2 of on-ice training camp Friday they both said they feel healthy again.

“I’m old for our team but not in life,” said Johnson, 33.

Johnson, who had COVID-19 in the first month of 2021 before suffering a concussion and an arm injury on Jan. 30 from a massive check delivered by Minnesota forward Jordan Greenway, is practicing with rookie Bo Byram, 20, on what is expected to be an opening-night pairing.

“I feel good,” Johnson, a longtime alternate captain, said. “It took a lot longer to recover from the concussion, not from the head, more so from the fall, and just took me a while to get back to normal. It’s frustrating. You know it’s most frustrating for me because I’m the one going through it so it was a long, kind of annoying process to go through, but now I feel good. I’m excited to get back out there with the guys.”

Johnson, who also finished the 2019-20 season on the injured list, declined to expand about how difficult it’s been for him being out.

“You’ve got to keep things in perspective. A lot of people were going through some very serious illness with COVID,” he said. “I got an injury playing professional hockey, a sport I love to play, I’m lucky to play, so I think you just got to look at the bright side. Yeah, it was not fun to go through but in the big picture, it’s not that much (compared) to some people.”

Francouz, 31, backed up Philipp Grubauer to begin last season before going on injured reserve with what the team said was a lower-body injury. It was later learned that Francouz had surgery on each hip performed by Dr. Marc J. Philippon at the Steadman Clinic in Vail.

“I knew since we decided to go to the surgery, I knew the season — the shortened season — is over for me,” Francouz said. “It was tough at first but maybe a little bit easier because I knew I’m getting ready for the next season right away. That was kind of my goal and we started working on it right away.”

Francouz went through the same procedures, and from the same doctor, as former Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov when he was still in Colorado. Varlamov led the NHL with a .929 save percentage last season.

“I spoke to Varly about it, and I see now how is he doing and he’s doing really well,” Francouz said. “He said he has no issues since the surgery so that was kind of good to hear. And also, when I saw the hospital (and staff), I had no doubts and no question marks. I knew I (would) be in the best hands.”

Francouz is competing with newcomer Darcy Kuemper for playing time. The Avs acquired Kuemper from Arizona after Grubauer signed with the expansion Seattle Kraken as a free agent.

“I know him from the league, even when I played in KHL he was one of my favorite goalies,” Francouz said of Kuemper. “He seems like a great guy. He’s positive, he smiles a lot, we’ll have a good relationship.”

The Avalanche continues its camp Saturday with two more morning sessions.,

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