It was solely two weeks in the past that the Colorado Avalanche made a commerce with the San Jose Sharks to amass goalie Mackenzie Blackwood to assist overhaul their goalie state of affairs.
Goaltending was the clear weak point of the roster within the first two months of the season, and administration wasted little time in making an attempt to repair it.
Additionally they wasted little time in ensuring that Blackwood goes to be their goalie for the foreseeable future, signing him to a five-year, $26.25M contract extension on Friday after making simply 4 begins with the group.
It’s a massively dangerous contract and there’s no assure it’ll work out the way in which the Avalanche hope it is going to.
There may be additionally a really actual probability it might be the subsequent regrettable contract handed out by a group to a mid-level goalie.
Goaltending is a difficult place for NHL groups as a result of it’s the most impactful place on the ice. An incredible goalie can elevate a mediocre group right into a contender, whereas a poor goaltending efficiency can take a contender and switch right into a pretender. What makes it so maddening is that for all of its significance, it is usually one of the vital troublesome positions to venture when it comes to efficiency. There are solely a handful of goalies that you may depend on for high-level play 12 months after 12 months. There is a component of randomness and unpredictability with the second- and third-tier goalies, and that’s the degree that Blackwood falls into.
He confirmed flashes of being a very good starter earlier in his profession when he first entered the league with the New Jersey Devils, however was a below-average starter for 4 consecutive seasons between 2020-21 and 2023-24.
He has been considerably higher thus far this season, and between the Sharks and Avalanche, his .914 save share is seventh within the NHL out of 37 goalies which have appeared in a minimum of 15 video games.
If he maintains that degree of play, his new contract might be a discount for the Avalanche. However there isn’t a assure he does that given his monitor report.
Perhaps taking part in behind a robust Avalanche group with an important protection and loads of offensive objective assist will assist him and produce out the very best in him. The supporting solid round him definitely places him right into a place the place he doesn’t must be the focus of the roster. The Avalanche don’t want a goalie that may steal them video games. They simply want anyone who’s strong and doesn’t lose them video games the way in which Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen have been early within the season.
However these five-year goalie contracts within the $25M-30M vary don’t sometimes prove effectively for the groups that hand them out. That’s the similar wage vary that gamers like Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh), Joonas Korpisalo (Ottawa), Elvis Merzlikins (Columbus), Jack Campbell (Edmonton), Darcy Kuemper (Washington), and Philipp Grubauer (Seattle) have signed in recent times. Nearly all of them have been clear losses for the group inside a few years. Within the case of Korpisalo, Campbell and Kuemper, they have been traded away from their groups or waived inside two years of signing the offers, whereas Jarry and Merzlikins have been among the many least productive starters within the league. Grubauer misplaced his beginning job in Seattle.
Given Blackwood’s inconsistent monitor report all through his profession, there’s a excellent probability the Avalanche discover themselves in the same place in a few years. It’s merely a dangerous contract.
