The Colorado Avalanche acquired goalie Philipp Grubauer in a trade with the Washington Capitals. The then-pending free agent signed pretty quickly with Colorado for three years.
The three years were meant to be something of an extended “show me” contract. At the time, the Avs still had Semyon Varlamov as their number-one goalie. However, Varlamov was reaching veteran status, and Colorado was dedicated to the youth movement.
Grubauer was 26 at the time, so four years younger than Varlamov. That’s a lot in hockey years. Colorado was seeing if Grubauer could become the team’s starter.