"I'm really happy here," Francouz said. "My family is really happy here."
The 31-year-old goalie is 10-3-1 with a 2.46 goals-against average, .920 save percentage and two shutouts in 14 games (11 starts) this season with the Avalanche. He was in the final season of a two-year contract he signed with Colorado on Feb. 21, 2020, and could have become an unrestricted free agent July 13.
"Pavel is an important component to our goaltending tandem (with Darcy Kuemper) and someone we have full trust in to be a key piece of our team going forward," Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said. "He has showed tremendous perseverance and dedication in overcoming the challenges and injuries he has faced."
Francouz started this season on injured reserve after missing the 2020-21 season recovering from hip surgery. He made his 2021-22 season debut Dec. 16 in a 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators.
He had an NHL career-high seven-game winning streak (five starts) from Jan. 8-28, which included shutouts in two consecutive games (2-0 against the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 19 and 2-0 against the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 24). He was the first Avalanche goalie to post consecutive shutouts since Patrick Roy from Jan. 23-25, 2003.
His NHL career-best shutout streak of 169:29 from Jan. 17-28 is the third longest in Avalanche history and second longest by any NHL goalie this season behind Ilya Samsonov of the Washington Capitals (170:13).
Francouz, undrafted in the NHL, signed with the Avalanche as a free agent May 2, 2018. He is 31-12-5 with a 2.42 GAA, .923 save percentage and three shutouts in 50 regular-season games (42 starts) and 2-4-0 with a 3.23 GAA, .892 save percentage and one shutout in six Stanley Cup Playoff games (five starts).
The Avalanche (41-13-5), first in the NHL standings, host the Calgary Flames on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; SN1, SNE, SNO, SNW, ALT, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).
