Avalanche's Pavel Francouz: Placed on LTIR

The Avalanche placed Francouz (lower body) on long-term injured reserve Thursday, Mike Chambers of The Denver Post reports.

Francouz has yet to play this season, so this move won't impact his ability to return whenever he's deemed fit to play, as he's already nearly fulfilled the time requirement to return from LTIR, but it will open up some cap space for Colorado. Philipp Grubauer will continue to operate as a workhorse for the Avalanche until Francouz is given the green light.