The Colorado Avalanche announced the one-year extension of goalie Scott Wedgewood on Wednesday. The one-year, $2.5 million contract provides much-needed certainty for the team moving forward.
While starter MacKenzie Blackwood won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, the club needed to know where the other half of its tandem stood. Now, that won’t be an issue anymore, at least for one more season.
Speculation had been swirling about prospect Ilya Nabokov potentially getting a shot at the NHL next season. But expecting Nabokov, who’s currently in Russia, to step in at the NHL level is wishful thinking at best.
Goalies need more time to develop. And that’s what this move is mainly about. As my colleague Graham Tiedtke pointed out, the Avalanche signed Wedgewood as a means of buying themselves more time for Nabokov.
But there’s a broader narrative here to consider. Extending Wedgewood is about not fixing something that isn’t broken. The Wedgewood-Blackwood, alpine-themed tandem, has worked for the Colorado Avalanche. The goaltending went from the nightmarish tandem of Justus Annunen and Alexandar Georgiev to one that allows Avalanche fans to pass on the sleeping pills.
Keeping Scott Wedgewood on the club was something GM Chris MacFarland had to do. It was probably the easiest decision he’s had to make all season. Kudos to MacFarland for seeing the forest for the trees.
Wedgewood gave Colorado Avalanche a break with extension
There’s another overlooked angle in Wedgwood’s extension. He gave the Colorado Avalanche a massive break. You see, with the goalie market being such as it is, Wedgewood could have played out this season and gone to market. He could have set off a buzz much the same way Jake Allen did this past summer.
Thinking about the number of teams needing goalies next season, Wedgwood could have leveraged this season into a nice payday.
But he didn’t do that. Wedgewood committed himself to a team that’s treated him like a beloved family member. Moreover, there really isn’t any other NHL club that’s as good as the Colorado Avalanche.
And Wegdewood has been a huge reason for the club’s success.
All told, extending Wedgewood at $2.5 million should be considered highway robbery. Wedgewood left some money on the table for sure. But you can’t really put a price on stability and a real chance to win.
Next season, the Avalanche will have another decision to make. If Wedgewood continues to play lights-out, the team will need to decide if Nabokov may be in the picture for 2027-28. But Avalanche and Wedgewood will cross that bridge when they get to it.