Blackwood/Vanecek/We Really Need to Move On/Goalie Thread

[Bleedred]

Blackwood just doesn’t have “it”. His athleticism is good but he cannot read plays well enough Amd loses focus too easy and often . Maybe another team Amd goalie coach can get the rocks out of his head but he is done here in NJ. We just simply cannot hold his hand and wait for him to “ figure it out “

This was exactly my opinion coming into this year, if you remember.

And the biggest kick in the balls was the insane winning streak we went on when he was injured and not available to play games during it (he had one win and one other start during it) and how much better his replacement played. His replacement played literally better than he has at any point since January-February of 2021, if not even February of 2020.

He's not even NHL quality. Andrew Hammond played a game in Vegas that was even better than Blackwood's game in Florida.

You can find goalies of equal value in trades for future considerations. No way he's really significantly better than Jon Gillies at this point, if any better.

Or maybe, just possibly, it's a Blackwood sucks thing.

Quoting for motherf***in truth.

 

[devilsblood]

Blackwood has talent. And i think there was a time where his career trajectory was heading in the right direction.

But injuries and covid derailed it.


Now I don’t think it’s impossible he gets back on track but it certainly doesn’t look good at the moment.

Can’t see the Devil’s giving him more then one or two more stinkers.

 

[MadDevil]

Except that when healthy Mackenzie has twice had seasons with save percentages over .915 (once winning 22 games for a team that had 28 wins all season). Vitek has yet to be over .908 for a season despite playing for a consistent playoff team and was deemed expendable by that team.

Despite your disdain for the guy, it would seem those who are in hockey as a profession have a bigger opinion of Blackwood.

.918
.915
.902
.892
.882

Do you see a pattern here?

 

[Bleedred]

Blackwood has talent. And i think there was a time where his career trajectory was heading in the right direction.

But injuries and covid derailed it.


Now I don’t think it’s impossible he gets back on track but it certainly doesn’t look good at the moment.

Can’t see the Devil’s giving him more then one or two more stinkers.

There's no doubt he had the talent, especially before he turned pro. I think he was either OHL player of the year or was it just OHL goalie of the year in 2015-2016? His rookie year in the AHL looked pretty decent for a 19-20 year old goalie, but it was all downhill from there.

Until he got to the NHL and then it looked uphill again for two years, now back downhill again.

I don't think it's completely impossible he gets back on track elsewhere, but at the very best he needs a change of scenery from here.

 

[Bleedred]

.918
.915
.902
.892
.882

Do you see a pattern here?

There was also

.907
.882
.902

in the AHL before that. Wonder if this is just who he is, as the first two NHL seasons look like clear outliers in his pro career.

Although, his first AHL season wasn't bad, it was certainly his peak performance at the AHL level, but the two years that followed were a 50+ stretch that were an awful lot like his last 60+ games at the NHL level.

This all predates the covid and injuries, but maybe other prior injuries got him years ago.

But after that 17-18 season where he was demoted to the ECHL briefly, he was pretty much an afterthought here. No one expected him to make his NHL debut in the first half of the upcoming season, never mind actually play well and be the best goalie on the team during it.

 

[My3Sons]

There's no doubt he had the talent, especially before he turned pro. I think he was either OHL player of the year or was it just OHL goalie of the year in 2015-2016? His rookie year in the AHL looked pretty decent for a 19-20 year old goalie, but it was all downhill from there.

Until he got to the NHL and then it looked uphill again for two years, now back downhill again.

I don't think it's completely impossible he gets back on track elsewhere, but at the very best he needs a change of scenery from here.

Blackwood just called. He said that out all the Devils fans he wishes you the merriest of Christmases.

 

[RSeen]

What do we do if Blackwood keeps with the poor play? Just keep rolling him and Vitek out? If Vitek is still sub 0.910, are you comfortable going into next year with him and a Schmid who had a short good run in the NHL and spent majority of the season in the minors?

I'd rather we give Schmid a chance than keep playing Mac so we can have a larger sample size to understand what we have here.

 

[Bleedred]

What do we do if Blackwood keeps with the poor play? Just keep rolling him and Vitek out? If Vitek is still sub 0.910, are you comfortable going into next year with him and a Schmid who had a short good run in the NHL and spent majority of the season in the minors?

I'd rather we give Schmid a chance than keep playing Mac so we can have a larger sample size to understand what we have here.

Well, I know this for sure.

I don’t give a shit if Blackwood is a .920% for the rest of the year, we can’t afford him at his qualifying offer.

So either way, Schmid probably can’t be worse than Blackwood and he’ll be several million cheaper. I’d rather have the guy for close to minimum wage that sucks than a guy making that many millions sucking.

By the way, if Blackwood were a .920% from here on out and played 20 more games? Combined with what he’s done already? And averaging 26.62 shots against (our average shot against this season) He’d be a .909% in 30 games on the year.

A little above average and the best season he’s had since 19-20, but still a bit risky to give him $4 million for another year, while we have Vitek already signed for $3.4 million.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

MacKenzie Blackwood = Zach Wilson, anyone who watches the NFL/Jets can understand this comparison. Both guys are holding their teams back and until both teams get rid of them they won't take the next step regardless of good those rosters are. What the Devils have done is arguably worse since they've given Blackwood way more chances than he's deserved.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Or maybe, just possibly, it's a Blackwood sucks thing.

Always telling when someone who has never played professional sports claims an athlete being paid to play a sport "sucks".

Tends to say more about the poster than the athlete.

 

[NJDevs26]

Oh please, everyone here is smart enough to differentiate sucking from a professional player standpoint and sucking on your beer league team. It’s also telling when you stick up for one guy who’s been bad and then bash everyone who’s among the actual top players on the team. It’s either personal or intentionally being contrarian.

 

[glenwo2]

Always telling when someone who has never played professional sports claims an athlete being paid to play a sport "sucks".

Tends to say more about the poster than the athlete.

Have you played Professional Hockey?

You must have to put out such a response.

Right? RIGHT?

 

[Bleedred]

If he was the ''Best goalie in the world since Hynes was fired'', he's been the worst goalie in the league since Nasreddine was fired lol.

I mean, not since Nasreddine was fired, but since Nasreddine was removed from the head coaching position.

 

[Bleedred]

I'm going into his splits for 20-21, he was actually just meh in February and March, and of course he was very hot in January, but he only played 3 games that month.

While the implosion started around game 9 of that season, the wheels really came off in April. He was an .875% in 11 games in April of 2021. He entered April still with a .911% on the season. Actually, on April 2nd he had a 2 goal on 40 shots game against Washington and was a .913% on the season, but ended April of that year with an .899% on the season.

He had a pretty hot May of 2021 with a .922% in 4 games, but his last game of May/that season was a 5 goal on 27 shots game against the Islanders.

Funny thing about that year was that his road save percentage was WAYYYYYYYY higher than his home save percentage. He had a .921% on the road in 16 games that year, while he had an .882% in 19 games at home that year. It wasn't just shot counting bias at home, as his GAA was 0.60 more at home than on the road. But he did face 33 more shots on the road in 3 fewer games and 150-ish fewer minutes played.

And he FEASTED on the Bruins that year, which is why he has such sparking numbers against them in his career. To be fair, I do remember some strong performances and wins over them from him before that year. He also played well against Buffalo and decent against the Flyers, but was bad against Pittsburgh, REALLY BAD against both the Rangers and Islanders, and COMICALLY BAD against Washington.

He was a .944% against the Bruins

.917% against the Sabres
.910% against the Flyers
.893% against the Penguins
.885% against the Rangers
.885% against the Islanders
.858% against the Capitals

 

[Bleedred]

I'm playing on hockey reference with Blackwood's career splits against every team and counted that he had only faced 29 teams. I knew the Kraken was one of the 3 teams he hadn't faced. I'm pretty sure he wasn't even dressed for either of the two games we played them last year.

I easily spotted St. Louis to be the other team he hasn't faced. So then I count 14 teams out west and I had already accounted for the two teams out west he had yet to face in his career. So that meant it had to an east team. So I'm going through all the east teams and I don't see any he hasn't faced yet, until I slowly started going through everybody and realized the only team that he hasn't faced in the east are.......... The New Jersey Devils.

DUH!!!!!

I'm positive that the New Jersey Devils were the one team that Martin Brodeur didn't face once in his career. Not counting the two teams that came after he was done playing.

 

[Bleedred]

So check it out. Since there's no current NHL hockey on the last two nights nor today to think about, my mind is really active on this today

@My3Sons commented about how Blackwood had the two good seasons in the NHL, so he's not convinced it's a talent issue. This doesn't indicate it is a talent issue, but it came to me what goalie had a good showing for 2 seasons in the NHL before never playing well in the NHL again.

So I couldn't help but think of one and he played here, but not for too many games. He goes back just a year before Blackwood made his NHL debut. In fact, they shared the crease for the AHL Devils at one point.

EDDIE LACK!

Yup, Eddie Lack's first two years in Vancouver were somewhat similar to Blackwood's first two years in the NHL.

He got traded to Carolina and was BAD there for 50+ games over two seasons and that was the end of his full time NHL career. Got 4 games in Calgary the next year and they were poor. Played 4 games here and they were just mediocre. The game against Tampa was his only good game here, I was there. Eddie Lack's last two years in Carolina were not quite as bad as Blackwood's last 2+ seasons here, but they did once lead to his head coach famously and very publicly saying ''Make a f***ing save''.

The biggest difference is that Lack was just a few months younger than Blackwood is now when he made his NHL debut. He was 25 when he made his NHL debut. He didn't come to North America/debut in the AHL until he was about the age Blackwood was when debuted in the NHL. His AHL play over two seasons was MUCH better than Blackwood's, but he was also older and was overseas in his early 20's. An injury ended Lack's playing career at 30 years old.

So basically, Blackwood may just be Eddie Lack. And you can't spell Blackwood without LACK.

 

[MartyOwns]

so is this thread basically bleed’s diary now?

 

[Bleedred]

so is this thread basically bleed’s diary now?

I guess until the next time we're unlucky enough to have to watch Blackwood play a game!

 

[billingtons ghost]

.918
.915
.902
.892
.882

Do you see a pattern here?

Increasingly Shitty team?
Injuries, COVID and confidence issues are certainly at play.

I'm not saying he's a good goalie, I'm not saying he's on top of his game, but I agree with @devilsblood general sentiment that the guy isn't washed up bc of age and that he can't be reclaimed by some team.

It isn't like VV and Schmid have bailed the team out on this streak of terribad play. We've seen more odd man rushes and breakdowns and lack of scoring than we did during the 20 or so games we were hot. The team's looked like it did when we were chanting Fire Lindy.

If I'm Fitz I'm trying to play blackwood enough to see what I've going to get back at the TDL for him.

Bc honestly, with or without Blackwood, our goaltending probably isn't enough to do damage in the playoffs. Rather than trying to buy a Meier, I'm wondering if Fitz is eyeing a vet goalie with one more run in him who could get hot if VV falters.

I would ship Blackwood out in a second for that.

 

[billingtons ghost]

There was also

.907
.882
.902

in the AHL before that. Wonder if this is just who he is, as the first two NHL seasons look like clear outliers in his pro career.

Although, his first AHL season wasn't bad, it was certainly his peak performance at the AHL level, but the two years that followed were a 50+ stretch that were an awful lot like his last 60+ games at the NHL level.

This all predates the covid and injuries, but maybe other prior injuries got him years ago.

But after that 17-18 season where he was demoted to the ECHL briefly, he was pretty much an afterthought here. No one expected him to make his NHL debut in the first half of the upcoming season, never mind actually play well and be the best goalie on the team during it.

Dude, you guys pump SV% up there in a vacuum. In almost all of those cases except for one, I think, he led the team in SV% for goalies with more than 10 games. Dawes had .893 to his .892 one year...

 

[Bleedred]

Dude, you guys pump SV% up there in a vacuum. I'm almost all of those cases except for one, I think, he led the team in SV% for goalies with more than 10 games. Dawes had .893 to his .892 one year...

None of those other guys are NHL caliber. Look at what Gillies is doing in the AHL this year. Believe it or not, he has an even lower save percentage in the AHL this year than he did in the NHL last year.

Hammond is now retired. It’s obvious he was burnt crispity when he was here.

Daws wasn’t NHL caliber either, if he’ll ever be. But I’ll tell you one thing, I’m pretty sure he isn’t worse than current Blackwood.

 

[MadDevil]

Dude, you guys pump SV% up there in a vacuum. In almost all of those cases except for one, I think, he led the team in SV% for goalies with more than 10 games. Dawes had .893 to his .892 one year...

Congrats, he was the least smelly turd in the pile of shit that was our goaltending that year. My point was more so that his numbers have gotten worse every season. And yes there were certainly factors but he's trending down and hasn't shown that he's coming out of it any time soon. Do we need him to be an .870 or .860 goalie before we pull the plug?

 

[billingtons ghost]

Congrats, he was the least smelly turd in the pile of shit that was our goaltending that year. My point was more so that his numbers have gotten worse every season. And yes there were certainly factors but he's trending down and hasn't shown that he's coming out of it any time soon. Do we need him to be an .870 or .860 goalie before we pull the plug?

You guys don't get that 'pulling the plug' just isn't a viable option. Either we need to trade for someone to bury this guy in the AHL, or we trade him for an NHL goalie, or we took the rest of the season with him as a backup. They just aren't going to take an asset like him who is probably considered a great 'fresh start' candidate under RFA control with his size, pedigree and age, and 'pull the plug'. It's beyond stupid.

Now, you and @Bleedred and @glenwo2 can bitch your hearts out, but you can't have it both ways.

Even if Blackwood is complete pus, you can get Nedjelkovic for him. Or Mrazek. Or Campbell. Or Merzlikens. Or Peterson. Or Grubauer. Or Gibson. Some of these guys bc of their contract alone. If you're so sure that Blackwood is the problem you should welcome getting any of these corpses back and believe in your heart they will be a vast improvement.

So suck it up for the next ten games he has to play. Last I checked he's the only one that's won a game in our last eight, and he's only started two. We will live getting him through an audition period.

 

[MadDevil]

My pulling the plug statement was more a general statement about his time with the organization than a we need to do whatever to get rid of him immediately statement. I'd prefer to bury him in the minors and give Schmid a longer look as Vanecek's backup, but I would imagine after last season Fitz would be hesitant to just waive a goalie for nothing. I'd be more okay with all of this if the team was bad again, but they're not and at this point playing Blackwood seems more a detriment to the team than it is a help (and before I hear it I know he just won recently but he then followed that up by shitting the bed...again).

 

[Bleedred]

You guys don't get that 'pulling the plug' just isn't a viable option. Either we need to trade for someone to bury this guy in the AHL, or we trade him for an NHL goalie, or we took the rest of the season with him as a backup. They just aren't going to take and assert like him who is probably considered a great 'fresh start' candidate under RFA control with his size, pedigree and age, and 'pull the plug'. It's beyond stupid.

Now, you and @Bleedred and @glenwo2 can bitch your hearts out, but you can't have it both ways.

Even if Blackwood is complete pus, you can get Nedjelkovic for him. Or Mrazek. Or Campbell. Or Merzlikens. Or Peterson. Or Grubauer. Or Gibson. Some of these guys bc of their contract alone. If you're so sure that Blackwood is the problem you should welcome getting any of these corpses back and believe in your heart they will be a vast improvement.

So suck it up for the next ten games he has to play. Last I checked he's the only one that's won a game in our last eight, and he's only started two. We will live getting him through an audition period.

Everybody you named is either almost as bad or as bad as Blackwood (Mrazek, Ned, Petersen) or they have term left beyond this year.

Petersen has 2 years left after this? Gibson has 4 years left. Grubauer has I think 4 years left? All of their contracts suck. Even shitty Mrazek has a year left. Merzlikins has I think another 4 or 5 years? Campbell had 4 years left.

Why would we wanna take on these guys?

Ned is the only one on an expiring contract and he’s almost like a Blackwood. Only he’s about the size of Darren Pang.