The Colorado Avalanche’s trade for MacKenzie Blackwood was a preemptive strike. As insider Pierre LeBrun noted in The Athletic, the Avs moved quickly to lock down the goalie they viewed as a potential number-one goalie for the future.
However, as my colleague Graham Tiedtke originally reported, the Carolina Hurricanes were responsible for driving up the price on Blackwood. In the end, the Avs unloaded the disappointing Alexandar Georgiev, along with underwhelming prospect Nikolai Kovalenko.
Kovalenko, it seems, was the piece the San Jose Sharks had their eye on. It remains to be seen whether Kovalenko can live up to the hype in San Jose.
Be that as it may, the Avs moved first as Blackwood was drawing interest from other clubs. As LeBrun wrote, the Canes bit their lip on Blackwood as they still view Pyotr Kochetkov as their goalie of the future.
But there were other clubs potentially interested in Blackwood as well. Now, it’s not clear who those other clubs might be. At the moment, we could speculate about which teams may be in the market for a goalie.
For instance, the Detroit Red Wings or Edmonton Oilers come to mind. The Oilers, in particular, could have been interested in a solid option like Blackwood to take the load off incumbent Stuart Skinner.
Anyhow, the Avalanche struck now before it was too late. Had the Avs waited, another club could have swooped in and snatched Blackwood, leaving Colorado with few options to consider.
Blackwood part of the Colorado Avalanche’s future
There’s another interesting point LeBrun made about the Blackwood deal. LeBrun posits that the Avalanche are looking to commit to Blackwood long term. As such, the team wanted to get a good, long look at Blackwood before whipping out the checkbook.
Now, I think LeBrun is really onto something, here. Had the Avs waited till the trade deadline (assuming Blackwood was still available), the sample size for Colorado wouldn’t have been relatively small. As such, making a long-term commitment to Blackwood could have left some room for doubt.
But getting Blackwood on board before Christmas allows the Colorado Avalanche to get as much data as possible in order to make a sound decision.
Moreover, the Avs are contenders. So, the club cannot afford to let their season languish when a preemptive strike could have solidified the Avs’ playoff position.
The Avs are currently fourth in the Central with 36 points, two behind the Dallas Stars. However, the Stars hold three games in hand. However, the Avs are tied with the Calgary Flames for the second wildcard spot, and one point behind the Vancouver Canucks for the first wildcard slot.
This situation means that the Avs are in the thick of the playoff race. This season and beyond, the team needs to have a reliable option in the crease. That’s why pouncing on Blackwood now made sense. There was no point in waiting till the trade deadline. By then, it might have been too late.
Ultimately, it’s better to show up early to the party than a day late and a dollar short.