The Colorado Avalanche have signed one of their depth goaltenders, inking Hunter Miska to a two-year contract. Miska played most of last season with the Colorado Eagles on an AHL contract before signing an NHL deal with the Avalanche in February. After issuing a qualifying offer this fall, he’ll instead sign a multi-year deal and stick with the team through the 2021-22 season.
Miska actually ended up on the bench for the Avalanche in the playoffs, backing up Michael Hutchinson after the team lost their other goaltenders to injury. That came a little more than a year after the Arizona Coyotes decided not to give him a qualifying offer, allowing him to join Colorado as a free agent. In 26 appearances for the Eagles this season, Miska posted a .924 save percentage and got his career right back on track.
The 25-year-old was never drafted, but posted strong numbers at the BCHL, USHL and collegiate levels before jumping into professional hockey in 2017. Slightly undersized for an NHL goaltender, he nevertheless has been excellent since joining the Colorado organization and will now serve as valuable depth behind Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz. The Avalanche of course also have Adam Werner under contract, who figures to get a good chunk of the AHL starts again this season.