Confirmed with Link: Blackwood traded to Colorado

[the_fan]

Maybe it would. However, at least they wouldn't have to play a third of the season with possibly the worst starter in the league.

The team is barely in a wild card spot and the failure with the goaltending has costs them multiple points. Its unacceptable.

That’s true. Maybe CMac didn’t envision Georgiev being that bad and hoped he would turn it around, but he’s gone now and there is a lot of the season left and we’re only like 8 points back of 1st place in central. I’m glad CMac didn’t wait until trade deadline though

 

[forsbergavs32]

Has he really found his groove?

Dude went through the entire offseason drinking kool-aid and wishing Georgiev is the answer in net. Props for making moves eventually, but they should have never even been in this situation in the first place.

From what it sounds like from the media, Georgiev had been on thin ice since the slash he gave Malinski. It takes time and a willing partner to make a trade. For all we know, they were trying to find a replacement last year and nothing ever materialized. The moves from when CMac took over in summer 2022 where he didn't do much and brought in meh players is much different from last year to now where he actively made trades to try to improve the team (trading for RyJo, trading Ryjo away when he didn't work, moving from a position of strength to get a 2C, bringing in depth, moving Annunen for a veteran backup, and moving out our toxic goalie to bring in more locker room stability and hopefully a better goalie).

So yes, over the last couple years, CMac has made improvements from what he started with after the Cup team.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Has he really found his groove?

Dude went through the entire offseason drinking kool-aid and wishing Georgiev is the answer in net. Props for making moves eventually, but they should have never even been in this situation in the first place.

Found his groove? Maybe not. But realized there was a problem and made a 180 degree turn? Yeah...he did that. And while he deserves the scorn for being in this position in the first place, he did actually trade our two top goalies in the system in season to correct the situation.

I really wasn't expecting anything else until the trade deadline, so he's done me proud at least.

 

[MonsterMack]

AI is f***ing wild. Same prompt (three trees)

This second one is legit amazing.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

AI is f***ing wild. Same prompt (three trees)

View attachment 942757View attachment 942758

It's crazy. My house has this one HUGE wall because it's an A-Frame that was jacked up to two stories. Anyways, I wanted some "big" piece to cover up some of that space on a 20' wall. I told Bing (before it became copilot) to make a picture of the Deanli range at night in winter with a river in the foreground with Moose, wolves and the northern lights above all. I'd like this done in a mid-century modern format.

Holy crap what it turned out was fantastic. Took several of the snapshots to a local artist and basically said, I wan't something similar to this and I want it in three pieces so I can space them a bit apart. Turned out fantastic.

 

[Star Platinum]

I’m nowhere near a goalie expert, but I kinda like that Blackwood excels against high quality shots. Most people say the Avs “just need average goaltending” because they’re so good but in reality a lot of the Avs in recent years have given up a lot of high quality chances and are in the bottom 10 this year.

Yes the Avs would love to finally have a simple goalie who can make “the simple save” and Blackwood definitely resembles something like that. But he’s also capable of stealing games and making those big saves he has no business making as well and sometimes with the defensive breakdowns of this team, they need that.

Sharks fan here. I don't know that I would say that he excels against high quality shots, but playing for us, he certainly got to see a lot of them so he's well practiced in dealing with them.

For whatever reason, he seemed to do much better with us in the games where we really left him out to dry and he saw a lot of shots. He had a few games with us where he didn't see that many shots and let a few softies in. But he definitely stole a few games for us this year that we really didn't deserve to win and probably had some of his best saves of the year in our recent game vs. Florida where he was just getting pummeled.

Realistically, he's one of those fungible average goalies at best. If our organization was that confident in him, we probably don't make the Askarov trade. But also, he was going to be a UFA at the end of the year and we can't be confident that our UFA's are going to want to return to a rebuilding team, so we pretty much had to do the best deal we could for him before the trade deadline and the first team to offer us a second was gonna get that deal done. The combination of our need to do a deal and the Avs' desperate need for better goaltending made us a perfect match.

Should also be a better teammate than Georgiev.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I think it's funny that I asked AI to write a Haiku about our goalies and got this last week...

Pucks slip through his grasp,
Net dances with missed chances—
Hope fades like the light.

I just asked it to write a new one about our goalies and got....

Awake with the dawn,
Wooden shield, steadfast and true—
Goalie's finest stand.

I think AI is on to something....

 

[Grigowski]

If they get in relatively healthy with solid goaltending, even without Landeskog, I'm not seeing a team that they can't pulverize in playoff mode.

They did get in relativley healthy last season... Only to get demonstrated by the Stars in Round 2.....

Maybe this trade sparks some fire, but as it stands now, we are a "wild card" team....And if we dont get healthy enough and stay the f*** healthy, we will find ourselves in a fight for a wild card.. Book it.

And the next problem: Bednar playing our top guns into the ground to secure the playoffs will be the end of all hopes this season again.

We are no monster anymore. Sorry to say that.

Should also be a better teammate than Georgiev.

What are the chances Georgiev will get waived by San Jose?

I mean, that guy is fighting for a new contract on a rebuilding team with very young players. I doubt thats a good mix.

 

[Star Platinum]

What are the chances Georgiev will get waived by San Jose?

For the time being, the tea leaves suggest they're gonna roll with Georgiev and Vanacek and leave Askarov in the AHL, but we'll probably know better in a few days. I would say if they don't waive him by the end of the week, they're probably going to leave him on the roster for the time being. They seem content to let Askarov cook more in the AHL even though this is his third AHL season and he doesn't really have anything left to prove there.

I think it would be funny if we managed to somewhat rehabilitate him and flip him by the deadline, but I doubt that's in the cards unless he performs better seeing a lot of shots.

 

[Star Platinum]

People seem to forget that Mike Grier doesn't have a reputation of being a very savvy and cunning GM.

He took over a dumpster fire and within a few years has one of the best prospect pools in the league. Whether he's the guy that can finish the rebuild and get us back to the playoffs remains to be seen, but he cleaned up our cap situation and has us moving in the right direction.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

He took over a dumpster fire and within a few years has one of the best prospect pools in the league. Whether he's the guy that can finish the rebuild and get us back to the playoffs remains to be seen, but he cleaned up our cap situation and has us moving in the right direction.

He's done the destruction that was left to him as well as could be done. As always, I think you should bring in a new GM before you tear down. Allow your new GM to be responsible for the destruction as well as the construction. That way it's all on them, no excuses.

At this point, it remains to be seen if Mike can build a contender, but I've liked most of what he's done. I'm not saying the Sharks will win a cup, but I'm not betting against Greer making them into a team.

 

[Star Platinum]

Is Blackwood a good puck handler? I'd love a good puckhandling goalie to help our D.

He's not a bad puck handler, but I wouldn't say he's terribly aggressive about it. You won't see him do much more than go behind his net.

 

[Star Platinum]

I don't know about price since points pay in this league and he was on pace for less than 30.

I just think Kovalenko tried playing a top six, skill based game in a bottom six role when Bednar wants every one of his bottom six guys to play like Logan O'Connor.

I suspect Kovalenko gets a look in San Jose's top six to start.

We need a dirty work winger in our top six. Puck retrieval and forechecking are not our strong suits. But then, we don't have a lot of strong suits.

 

[Jasenr]

Just watched the last Sharks - Panthers game highlights and gotta say I feel very good what Avs are getting in net. A guy who doesnt scramble all the time, makes easy saves look very easy and covers the net not leaving too much open being a tower of a man. And ofcourse couple highlight glove saves to top it all of. And yeah Sharks faced like 50 shots on goal...

Everything I just wrote is a total opposite of Georgiev. He was abused by the opponent for all the faults he has. His gonna be lit up in Sharks with that defense. Im pretty sure Sharks play as good as they did because they could rely on the goalie saving something. Oh boy they gonna be disappointed soon.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Wouldn't surprise me if getting 4giev is also a strategic move. Best for the Sharks to tank and they been getting pretty good goaltending this season. Georgiev can be the ultimate tank commander. Askarov is already a better goaltender, but I guess they keep him in the A.

 

[Ceremony]

The Sharks fan descriptions of "he's good when he faces a lot of shots but not when he doesn't" sounds very similar to Kuemper.

 

[MarkT]

I think it's funny that I asked AI to write a Haiku about our goalies and got this last week...

Pucks slip through his grasp,
Net dances with missed chances—
Hope fades like the light.

I just asked it to write a new one about our goalies and got....

Awake with the dawn,
Wooden shield, steadfast and true—
Goalie's finest stand.

I think AI is on to something....

Silent summer winds,
The crease left untended still,
Did he act too late?

Slippery save sheets,
Hope crumbles like melting ice,
Goals flood past again.

Two woods stand as one,
A bastion against the flood,
Victory takes root.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Silent summer winds,
The crease left untended still,
Did he act too late?

Slippery save sheets,
Hope crumbles like melting ice,
Goals flood past again.

Two woods stand as one,
A bastion against the flood,
Victory takes root.

That last one gives me...giggles.

Sorry, can't go though yet.

 

[MarkT]

Okay, so here's how this works:

The season starts poorly, then gets worse and worse - injury news every day, goalies can't stop glue-covered beach balls. But their are rays of hope. Colton's goal scoring, the brief return of Drouin, Nuke's return, MacKinnon and Makar's point streaks. But then MacKinnon goes on a slump. Everyone gets injured again. Georgiev keeps giving up four goals or more.

Then a glimmer of hope. The comeback against the Sabres. Wedgewood arrives and plays well.

Then the Blackwood trade.

If this is a story, then here's the turning point. Now we go on an epic run, probably fighting to the bitter end to make the playoffs after one last major setback. Then we upset the top seed, fight to the limit in the second round, dominate the third, and then one last epic clash in the final.

Wood you believe it?

 

[Richard88]

I wouldn't call it overrating him, it's just some of us did not want to lose a roster player given all the injury problems this season. Landy's probably not coming back, Val is one strike away, Drouin probably will go out again before the year is up, etc. And I think it's way too early to just give up on Kovy.

Don't get me wrong, Giev sucks and I'm glad he's gone, but the deal should've been for picks. It's not like Giev had years left on his deal, so a 2nd and 5th would've been fair value.

What incentive would SJ have to trade Blackwood now for a 2nd + 5th when they could easily better that simply by waiting until the deadline when prices go up and teams are desperate?

 

[missionAvs]

Yeah this quote from CMac is very telling.



He probably had leaders on this team banging at his door to get Georgiev off this f***ing team.

I can’t imagine how shitty of an environment it was having this sour puss allowing a goal on the first shot of the game and clawing defeat from the jaws of victory over and over.

Now, you have two good Ontario boys who will not only provide better goaltending but unquestionably better team morale.

I love this f***ing quote. Listen, this isn't the 22 squad and I understand that the goalies aren't the sole reason for the results we've had so far but they were the biggest part IMO. I'm happy these moves were made to bring in the Wood. The price was a bit steep but this team's problem required a solution and fast.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

It's not necessarily losing those pieces, nobody here doesn't care about keeping a 2nd or Kovalenko, but it's for a proper piece. Like, we traded all of this for a bloke we might not even want to re-sign. That is pretty telling IMHO.

This is true. It's a big gamble.

 

[Gumballhead]

This is true. It's a big gamble.

Given what the options were for acquiring a goalie and who our #1 was, it was a bigger gamble to do nothing or wait until prices went up.

 

[Murzu]

I've been vocal about this before, but I wanted a goalie deal done way before deadline so the new number one has time to adjust to our system. Doing this deal at the TDL would had meant that Blackwood would had had only ~15 starts before the playoffs. Not very optimal.

Last time a team with cup hopes traded for a real starter at the TDL was Ryan Miller to St. Louis Blues. That was a fiasco. Maybe he was a bad fit, maybe he just didn't have time to adjust to Blues hockey. Either way, this is the correct way of doing this: let the new starter settle in with the team.

 

[MarkT]

Given what the options were for acquiring a goalie and who our #1 was, it was a bigger gamble to do nothing or wait until prices went up.

You're right. When people calculate risk, they rarely consider the risks associated with not acting.