Just four days into NHL free agency, Alexandar Georgiev is still without a contract — and what was supposed to be a reset opportunity is already looking more complicated than expected.

After terminating his deal with KHL Spartak and signaling a clear intention to return to North America, Georgiev re-entered the NHL market hoping to rebuild his value. Instead, he’s watching goaltending jobs disappear without his name coming off the board.

That’s a notable shift from where his career stood not long ago.

During his time with the Colorado Avalanche, Georgiev worked his way into a full-time starter’s role and reached his peak in 2023-24, when he led the NHL with 38 wins. He had also tied for the league lead in wins the season prior, briefly establishing himself as one of the league’s most productive regular-season goaltenders.

That same stretch also included one of the defining moments of his career — an All-Star selection in 2024, where he took part in the league’s skills showcase. In the one-on-one shooter-versus-goalie challenge, Georgiev stopped nine of 12 attempts from Connor McDavid in a minute-long showdown, earning $100,000 and a rare spotlight moment against the NHL’s best player. McDavid even joked afterward that Georgiev “had my number” in the event, a lighthearted but memorable highlight in his career arc.

But that version of Georgiev didn’t last.

His final stretch in Colorado during the 2024-25 season unraveled quickly, finishing 8-7-0 with a 3.38 goals-against average and a .874 save percentage. After a move to San Jose, the struggles continued over a larger sample, going 7-19-4 with a 3.88 GAA and a .875 save percentage in 31 appearances.

That downturn reshaped his market in real time — and it carried straight into his next stop.

After landing with Buffalo on a one-year, $850K deal just before training camp, Georgiev’s situation never stabilized. The Sabres were ultimately so dissatisfied with his place on the depth chart that they claimed Colten Ellis off waivers, pushing Georgiev further down the goaltending hierarchy. That move effectively signaled where things were heading, and it eventually led to a mutual termination of his NHL contract so he could pursue an opportunity with Spartak in the KHL.

In Russia, he found steadier results, posting a 2.37 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage over 24 appearances. It was a clear step forward from his North American struggles, but not enough to fully restore his NHL reputation to anything close to starter status.

Now back on the open market, Georgiev is trying to find a landing spot in a goaltending landscape that has already moved quickly. With the first wave of free agency behind us, most teams have addressed their starter or backup situations, leaving fewer obvious openings.

And that’s where the concern comes in.

Even with a respectable KHL rebound, NHL teams are still weighing the same question: which version of Georgiev are they getting — the 38-win starter from Colorado, or the goaltender whose performance declined sharply in both San Jose and his brief Buffalo tenure?

At this point in the summer, uncertainty is more damaging than upside. And in a market that’s already thinning out, Georgiev’s path back to the NHL looks less like a return — and more like a waiting game that may not go his way.

Whether Georgiev finds his way back to the NHL, returns to Russia again, or ultimately decides to step away from the game entirely remains to be seen.