The Colorado Avalanche are a solid 2-0 to start the 2025-26 season and a big part of that comes from the goaltending. Of course, it's not starting goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood that us fans should be thanking. Backup netminder Scott Wedgewood started the season due to Blackwood dealing with an injury. Wedgewood has been excellent in both games, especially against the Utah Mammoth, where he stole the game, as the Avalanche just couldn't get their offense going.
Blackwood's injury stems from a surgery he had after last season ended. However, the timetable for his return is unknown. Blackwood has been at practice taking shots, so he's close to returning, but there's been no announcement or word from the team as to when. Blackwood didn't travel with the team to Los Angeles for the season opener against the Kings to continue rehab and recovery. The Avalanche didn't put him on injured reserve, so they're carrying three goaltenders with him, Wedgewood and Trent Miner.
If you’re watching the game and heard the VGK broadcast mention that Mackenzie Blackwood had a surgery and won’t be ready, I’ve confirmed that this was a procedure done back in May right after the season ended. This is NOT a new surgery that has changed his recent status.
— Jesse Montano (@jessemontano_) October 2, 2025
Why the Avalanche didn't put Blackwood on IR
The rules regarding injured reserve state that when placed on IR, the player cannot play for seven days. If the Avalanche put Blackwood on IR for the start of the season, then he would've had to miss the first four games of the season. That includes tomorrow's highly anticipated matchup with the Dallas Stars and the following game in Buffalo.
Putting Blackwood on IR doesn't really help the Avalanche in any way. While it frees a roster spot, it doesn't free any cap space. Blackwood made the opening roster because they have roster space. If the team put him on IR, they could fill that roster spot with a call-up from the Colorado Eagles, but that wouldn't help either. The team already has Zakhar Bardakov and Ilya Solovyov as healthy scratches and the Eagles have been gearing up for their season opener, so you wouldn't want to take away from that player's development.
Projecting Blackwood's return
My thoughts are that Blackwood will return within the first 10 games. The schedule starts with a pretty heavy workload and lots of travel, so I understand the hesitance on rushing him back, especially considering how fantastic Wedgewood has been. Trent Miner also played well during the season and should be able to handle a game or two if he needs to. Blackwood could return for any game. I think it's more likely that he returns for a home game, but there are opportunities on the road. Here are my projections as to when I think Blackwood could make his season debut.
October 18th vs. Boston Bruins; 7:00 PM MDT
This one probably makes the most sense. This puts Blackwood at missing the first five games of the season and it's a little over a week away, which gives him ample time to rest and recover. This would be a situation where he could avoid another couple of road games in Utah and Columbus. Boston shouldn't be too tough of a matchup, but enough of a challenge with an elite goal scorer for the Bruins in David Pastrnak.
October 25th @ Boston Bruins; 1:00 PM MDT
October 26th @ New Jersey Devils; 11:00 AM MDT
If Blackwood needs a little more time to recover, this is where I'd target his start date. These are the ninth and tenth games of the season so it keeps up with my projected timeline. It may seem a bit odd for me to pick a back-to-back on the road, but I have a couple of reasons for this. First off, both games are afternoon games, which are a lot different to prepare for. Trent Miner could struggle in an afternoon game as it's not something he'd be used to. The next option would be to start Wedgewood in both games. While Wedgewood has been lights out to start the season, a road back-to-back is tough for any goaltender.
This would be a great chance for Blackwood to get the travel part of the game in as well. Road games are obviously more difficult on a player, especially one coming back from injury. But if Blackwood is ready to go by this time, getting him acclimated and back in the rhythm of road games would be extremely helpful. Even if he's not ready to play, he could fly with the team and work on getting used to being on the road.
October 11th vs Dallas Stars; 7:00PM MDT
This one might be a longshot. But I do think that this game is the reason the Avalanche didn't put Blackwood on IR. This is the toughest, most important game of October, and having your starting goalie possibly available would be ideal. As I said above, it wouldn't really help them by placing him on IR, so keeping the possibility of Blackwood being available for this game makes a lot of sense. I think Wedgewood can handle Dallas, especially with the way he's started this season, but having Blackwood available is equally as important.
All in all, I think we can expect the Avs' starting netminder to return at some point this month. The Avalanche do a great job at tending to player injuries and not rushing them back too early. They can afford to be extra cautious, with Wedgewood's stellar performance to start the season.