Jared Bednar expects goalie Philipp Grubauer to turn it around — just like he did last season. The Avalanche coach believes his No. 1 goalie to begin the season will bounce back from a mid-season funk and re-establish himself as a strength for a playoff-bound team.

But if that doesn’t happen, and the Avs aren’t convinced backup Pavel Francouz can carry the load, they might have a trade option in acquiring future Hall of Fame goalie Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers in a short-term marriage.

Lundqvist, 37, who has yet to hoist the Stanley Cup, is under contract through 2020-21, with an $8.5 million annual cap hit but just a $5.5 million salary next season. His contract would expire when Colorado begins paying big money to Gabe Landeskog and Cale Makar, whose current deals also end next season.

Currently, the Avs have the cap space and prospects/draft picks to entice “King Henrik” to waive his no-trade clause to a Cup contender in a move similar to when legendary defenseman Ray Bourque came to the Avs late in the 1999-2000 season. In search of the Cup heading into his 40th birthday, Bourque helped Colorado win it in 2001.

Lundqvist could be that guy for the Avs in 2020 or 2021, and the Rangers are undoubtedly looking at trading one of their three goalies. That’s not a typo — New York is carrying three goalies, including two young ones in Alexandar Georgiev, 23, and Igor Shesterkin, 24 — the latter of whom defeated the Avs in his NHL debut Jan. 7 in New York.

If the Rangers (21-19-4) continue to stand south of the playoff bubble heading into the Feb. 24 trade deadline, moving Lundqvist and keeping the young guys would make sense.

And for Colorado, doing something to improve the team before the deadline is a must if this club is truly in it to win it. Colorado is last in the 31-team NHL in player spending, with more than $15 million in available cap space, according to CapFriendly.com.

Goaltending is the Avs’ only glaring issue, although Bednar has said his team’s checking and rush coverage has been the weakness of late. Bottom line: They aren’t getting enough key saves from Grubauer or Francouz when the defense breaks down in front of them, and are 4-7-2 in their last 13 games because of it.

“I would say, recently, maybe their play hasn’t been as good, but it’s no different than any other player,” Bednar said of his goalies. “One of the ways you get out of the little funk like we’re in is to be able to get some great individual performances and it starts with our goaltending. We need better from certain guys up front and certain guys on the D-corps.”

He added: “The wins and losses aren’t on our goaltending alone. It’s a bunch of different areas of our game. We plug one hole and another one pops up. We’re fighting to try and improve in those areas and continue to learn from them and make sure we’re not making the same mistakes that are costing us hockey games.”

Grubauer, 28, is under contract with a $3.3 million cap hit through next season. Francouz, 29, is on a one-year deal worth $950,000. Colorado’s top goalie prospects are 2016 draft pick Adam Werner, 22, of the Colorado Eagles, and Finnish professional Justus Annunen, 19, the third goalie selected in the 2018 draft who starred at the recent World Junior Championship.

The gap between Grubauer/Francouz and Werner/Annunen is too big. If the current Avs can’t get the job done, the young guys aren’t the answer. So Colorado would have to look elsewhere before the trade deadline and there’s not a bigger possible available name out there than King Henrik.

The Kings’ Jonathan Quick, 33, also could be an option, but the two-time Cup winner is under contract for the next three seasons at $5.8 million. Lundqvist, still yearning to win the Cup, is the best option.

Footnotes. Avs winger Andre Burakovsky skipped Monday’s practice because of an illness. He is expected to play Tuesday against the visiting Dallas Stars. … Winger Joonas Donskoi will miss his second game Tuesday with a concussion. But he skated on his own for the second straight day Monday and is improving, Bednar said.