For Mackenzie Blackwood, boring is better.
Blackwood is one of the best athletes in the NHL, regardless of position. His athleticism allows him to make jaw-dropping, how-did-he-get-that-one saves.
His path from prospect to potential Vezina Trophy candidate was non-linear, and included some dark days. But, beyond some better fortune with his health, one of the biggest realizations in his development was his ability to make flashy saves was not going to make him the consistent goaltender he wanted to be.
“Goalie is a hard position mentally. You have to learn yourself, learn your game,” Blackwood said. “I think part of consistency is just positioning. If I’m in the right spot, most of the time, the pucks hit you. If you’re not chasing the game and you let the game come to you, it’s a lot easier to play.
“I think you simplify things and you don’t overuse athleticism – like, you have to kind of know it’s there when you need it, but not rely on it. Kind of just play a boring game, let it come out when you need it.”
The Avalanche needed it Tuesday night. That was not by any measure a boring game for Blackwood.
Colorado defeated the New York Rangers, 2-1, in overtime. Blackwood’s coach said he was the best player on the ice at Ball Arena, and the Avs would have gotten zero points, not two, if he wasn’t.
The Avalanche hoped Blackwood, along with Scott Wedgewood, would stabilize the goaltending position after a rough start for Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen. What the franchise has gotten since acquiring both in a pair of trades 10 days apart far exceeds stable.
Blackwood has made 12 starts for the Avs. He has allowed two or fewer goals in all of them.
The previous goalies allowed two goals or fewer just 10 times in 27 games.
“You don’t want to talk ill of the past guys because they were trying and working hard, but when (Blackwood) is in net or (Wedgewood) is in net, it’s a good feeling,” Avs center Parker Kelly said. “You feel like they’re going to give you a chance to win. It’s not that you’re OK with making mistakes or giving up chances, but just to have that extra safety net is a pretty nice feeling.”
Blackwood was once the goalie of the future for the New Jersey Devils. Then he became the goaltender of the present, and a great start to his NHL career included a sixth-place finish in the Calder Trophy voting in 2020.
What came next was rough. Injuries and inconsistent play over the course of three seasons led the Devils to look elsewhere. By the time New Jersey’s rebuild was over and the Devils made the playoffs in 2023, Blackwood was third on the depth chart.
“Well, in the start with New Jersey, it was good. It was really good,” Blackwood said. “My game was evolving well, and I was playing good, taking the steps. But then I got into a lot of injury problems. It was one after another. I would be playing for a month, and then out for two or three. It was really hard to keep your game going when you’re in and you’re out and you’re off the ice for months. Even through the summer, you’re not training the way you want because of injuries.
“It was two years of just like, ‘Holy man, I’m never going to be able to be fully healthy.’ My ankle was pretty messed up.”
While the end in New Jersey was forgettable, Blackwood was using his downtime to overhaul how he was rehabbing. By the summer of 2023, he felt much better about his body and his offseason training.
San Jose general manager Mike Grier knew Blackwood from his days as a Devils assistant coach, and took a low-risk chance on him. He was back on another rebuilding team with years to go, but the opportunity saved his career.
Blackwood credits Grier for giving him that chance, and Sharks goalie coach Thomas Speer for helping him find this current version of himself.
The numbers weren’t always great, but Blackwood’s play was much improved. The Avs saw it, too.
“It’s the maturity of the player,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “You watch him in San Jose, and he looked like pretty much the same goalie every night. He gave them a chance to win with a high volume of shots, high-danger scoring chances, what he’s able to do.
“He’s done that here so far, so everything’s on track and we feel good about it.”
Colorado has already rewarded Blackwood with a five-year, $26.25 million contract extension. Blackwood has rewarded the Avs’ leap of faith with Vezina-quality goaltending.
Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebucyk is the runaway favorite for the award. Barring serious injury, he’s going to win for the second straight year.
But Blackwood, with a .938 save percentage and 1.68 goals against average, has been the best goalie in the NHL since arriving in Colorado. For the year, he’s up to fifth in the league with a .920 save percentage overall and he’s tied for third in goals saved above expected, per Money Puck.
Someone is going to finish second and third in the Vezina voting, and Blackwood’s play has put him firmly in that conversation. He’s married the flash and high-end skill with consistency. It’s there when needed, like against the Rangers.
But this older, more mature version of Blackwood has become a revelation for a club that desperately needed just average goaltending. He has delivered far more than that.
“The strength for me is (him) reading the play. Just finding where is the puck going and being early to get over there,” Bednar said. “He’s really efficient with his movements, and he’s a big guy. It’s all those things, but for me it’s the intelligence to read the play, to get over and know where it’s going, where the dangerous shots are coming from.
“He can make very difficult saves for some goalies like relatively routine for himself when he’s reading the play like that.”
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