Colorado Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood arrived via a trade with the San Jose Sharks several weeks back, following the other trade for Scott Wedgewood. The former was brought in to be the team’s starting goaltender for the future, and the team is making it known.
News broke on Friday morning that the Avalanche and Blackwood are nearing a contract extension. There was no doubt about this move happening. It was just a matter of when it would happen. Blackwood carries a cap hit of $2.35 million this season, and would have hit free agency this upcoming offseason as an unrestricted free agent.
The Avalanche were never going to let that happen. At 28 years old, Blackwood is in the prime of his career and the Avalanche desperately needed to make the goaltender change from Alexandar Georgiev to Blackwood. I think the thing that few people saw coming was the first goalie trade: Justus Annunen for Scott Wedgewood.
Realistically, I would think that the term of the contract would be around five or six years. It could go either way, though. The Avalanche still need to sign Mikko Rantanen to a massive contract extension, and that should take priority next.
In six games with the Avalanche, Blackwood is a respectable 4-2, with a goals against average of 1.93 and a save percentage of .932. Colorado is trying to climb the standings in the central division. They currently are in third place, with 42 points. They only trail the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild by nine points and four points, respectively.
The remaining 46 games of the 2024-25 season are here and the rest of the way will show us what the Avalanche are made of. With a slow start to the season up to now, it appears they have turned a corner. t’s up to them to prove that they did, as this goalie regime continues.
UPDATE: The deal will keep Blackwood in Colorado for five years at $5.25 AAV.