The Colorado Avalanche revamped their goaltending room when they traded away Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen for Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood during the 2024-25 season. They went from one of the worst goalie rooms to one of the best, and it continued throughout the 2025-26 season. But there could be reason for another potential change between the pipes soon.
While Colorado has some solid depth, they could use more. Cale Makar’s contract extension will eat up a large chunk of the team’s cap space going forward, and they’re obviously not going to go a different direction there. That kind of leaves the goalie room as the next place to look. Blackwood has an average annual value (AAV) of $5.25 million over the next four years, while Wedgewood’s AAV is $2.5 million this upcoming season.
Wedgewood should be looking for a new contract throughout the season (if he doesn’t secure one prior to the season opener on September 30th). He’ll be playing for a chance to remain with the team as a 1A or 1B alongside Blackwood. He should probably look to get the deal done sooner than later because there is always a chance of a downward spiral in any player’s performance.
As for Blackwood, he is going to have to have some good luck with his health. Last season, Wedgewood took over for the beginning of the season due to Blackwood requiring offseason surgery that kept him out for a little while. Wedgewood performed well enough to finish the season with 43 starts. It was a lucky break for Wedgewood, who showed up to Colorado as the backup. He deserves another chance to start in 2026-27.
The other goalie in the mix is a recent draft pick in Ilya Nabokov. Nabokov was the first goaltender selected in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and most people have very high expectations of him for the future. Nabokov is starting out with the Colorado Eagles after being lent to the KHL’s Magnitogorsk Metallurg. He’s been up and down but the hope is that his play with the Colorado Eagles has a positive effect on his NHL future.
If Nabokov is able to impress enough to be called up and play in the NHL at some point, the Avalanche could look to trade Blackwood and his $5.25 million price tag. Then, Colorado could use the freed up money to acquire a player to help their depth, especially if injuries start to pile up.
It would be beneficial if they could somehow figure out a trade acquisition that turns into a player they could use for years to come. For example, on the defensive side, Josh Manson and Brett Burns won’t be around forever. The Avalanche could look to acquire a depth defenseman.
Going forward, it will be good to monitor the performance of all three goaltenders I mentioned—two in the NHL and one in the AHL. I hope that all three of them play extremely well, but if they don’t, Colorado could look to make a change somewhere down the line.
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