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

[Omar Little]

We’re past that.

It’s been “make or break time” for him.

It’s break.

It’s over.

He’s done.

He shouldn’t be here after this year, he’ll be too expensive for what he is.

I think the gauntlet has been thrown down. I think there is still a path for Mackenzie to be here if he performs well but regardless of his performance anything beyond a 1 year deal is likely off the table at this juncture (honestly probably from his POV as well). He won't be tendered at his QO.

 

[Bleedred]

I think the gauntlet has been thrown down. I think there is still a path for Mackenzie to be here if he performs well but regardless of his performance anything beyond a 1 year deal is likely off the table at this juncture (honestly probably from his POV as well). He won't be tendered at his QO.

For some reason this organization still has a major erection for him, although that could have changed with his injury and the recent Vanecek run.

He's still getting opportunities based a run like the one Vanecek is currently on, but which happened just about 3 years ago now.

And he had a pretty good to start 20-21, which is almost identical to Schmid's start this year. I mean, I know Schmid has played weaker teams and has also played much more sparsely in that run, like once a week, but point still stands.

It's pathetic. If Blackwood weren't injured, he would have gotten way more starts, Vanecek would have gotten less and Schmid wouldn't even be a thing.

They couldn't help themselves with this guy, that's why he was starting opening night, despite being the inferior goalie in preseason. He was getting consecutive starts after Vitek started ROLLING.

It's a joke. Just like this player. A JOKE.

Maybe he's just not any good and didn't just get bad in the last couple years, is that possible? Did you see his AHL career? TRASH.

 

[Bleedred]

Which is...a Bum.

I have a bad feeling there's gonna be Vitek chants one night this year (possibly even SCCCCHMMMMMMIDDDDDDDDDD) during a game in which he isn't playing.

While the hostility has no doubt completely died out after this run (Fire Lindy, booing bad periods/starts/Bronx cheering goalies), it'll be thrown at him if he comes back and gets in a game at home and he's giving up weak/a lot of goals. Unless he goes on some kind of prolonged good run before that happens.

Especially after this run that shows ''Hey, we don't need you''.

 

[My3Sons]

I have a bad feeling there's gonna be Vitek chants one night this year (possibly even SCCCCHMMMMMMIDDDDDDDDDD) during a game in which he isn't playing.

While the hostility has no doubt completely died out after this run (Fire Lindy, booing bad periods/starts/Bronx cheering goalies), it'll be thrown at him if he comes back and gets in a game at home and he's giving up weak/a lot of goals. Unless he goes on some kind of prolonged good run before that happens.

Especially after this run that shows ''Hey, we don't need you''.

How many times do you have to tell us he just needs a chance to bounce back from injury and he will be back in top form? I’m sorry to burst your bubble but with how Vanacek is doing it will be hard for Blackwood to take back thr net as an undisputed starter.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

View attachment 616905

Seems logical. The fact that even Akira Schmid is putting up outstanding numbers speaks to the improvement of the team overall as much as it does the ability of the goaltenders.

Having two veterans is an ideal situation; at least for the short-term.

 

[Based Anime Fan]

Welcome to @Bleedred's new permanent home.

 

[Bleedred]

Eww

Always thought that band sucked.

@Cage Helmet and his bestie LOVED this around the time that album came out (they were probably 13-14 then), but I'm pretty sure they were done listening to that stuff by 98. I kind of felt the same way about bands like this and the Casualties (And The Virus) like I felt about some of the radio Punk bands. I probably would have liked this if I were 14 when it came out and not 21 or whatever I was. My friend wound up being roommates with a guy that grew up with members of this band in PA, but he wasn't really into that music either. He once told us that he thought Minor Threat and Youth Of Today were hateful, racist skin bands because of Ian MacKaye/band members shaved heads, as well as knowing boneheads that listened to those bands.

The Casualties had some f***in stupidly hilarious lyrics though, like about killing hippies and Crass worshippers with long hair. Despite the fact that the band members hair must have been down to their asses when they washed all the glue out of it that was holding up their 3 foot tall liberty spikes.

I do have the Anti-Flag/Bouncing Souls split series CD that BYO put out probably over 20 years ago now. I felt like the word fascist was in like every Anti-Flag song on there.

Their Bouncing Souls cover was decent though.

I only got it cause I'm a fan of the Bouncing Souls.

 

[Bcap88]

I always knew vitek would be solid for us but no one could have predicted this type of production.

I spent a lot of time watching him last year because he was my goalie in a fantasy league lol

 

[Bleedred]

I always knew vitek would be solid for us but no one could have predicted this type of production.

I spent a lot of time watching him last year because he was my goalie in a fantasy league lol

He ranked pretty well on my goals stoppable percentages both years in the league.

He was a minus in GSAx both years in Washington, but Blackwood has also been a negative in GSAx (at least on evolving hockey, I think he was a slight positive on money puck in 19-20, but not by much, just barely) every year in the league. Even his first two, although just barely those years.

Still, I don't understand why the hype. Yeah, he was better than Kinkaid/Schneider/Domingue, but he was never as good as pre-decline Cory, he was probably not even as good as 2012 Brodeur (he was better than 2010 and 2011 Brodeur though) and barely better than 2017-2018 Kinkaid.

 

[Based Anime Fan]

Eww

Always thought that band sucked.

@Cage Helmet and his bestie LOVED this around the time that album came out (they were probably 13-14 then), but I'm pretty sure they were done listening to that stuff by 98. I kind of felt the same way about bands like this and the Casualties (And The Virus) like I felt about some of the radio Punk bands. I probably would have liked this if I were 14 when it came out and not 21 or whatever I was. My friend wound up being roommates with a guy that grew up with members of this band in PA, but he wasn't really into that music either. He once told us that he thought Minor Threat and Youth Of Today were hateful, racist skin bands because of Ian MacKaye/band members shaved heads, as well as knowing boneheads that listened to those bands.

The Casualties had some f***in stupidly hilarious lyrics though, like about killing hippies and Crass worshippers with long hair. Despite the fact that the band members hair must have been down to their asses when they washed all the glue out of it that was holding up their 3 foot tall liberty spikes.

I do have the Anti-Flag/Bouncing Souls split series CD that BYO put out probably over 20 years ago now. I felt like the word fascist was in like every Anti-Flag song on there.

Their Bouncing Souls cover was decent though.

I only got it cause I'm a fan of the Bouncing

Eww

Always thought that band sucked.

@Cage Helmet and his bestie LOVED this around the time that album came out (they were probably 13-14 then), but I'm pretty sure they were done listening to that stuff by 98. I kind of felt the same way about bands like this and the Casualties (And The Virus) like I felt about some of the radio Punk bands. I probably would have liked this if I were 14 when it came out and not 21 or whatever I was. My friend wound up being roommates with a guy that grew up with members of this band in PA, but he wasn't really into that music either. He once told us that he thought Minor Threat and Youth Of Today were hateful, racist skin bands because of Ian MacKaye/band members shaved heads, as well as knowing boneheads that listened to those bands.

The Casualties had some f***in stupidly hilarious lyrics though, like about killing hippies and Crass worshippers with long hair. Despite the fact that the band members hair must have been down to their asses when they washed all the glue out of it that was holding up their 3 foot tall liberty spikes.

I do have the Anti-Flag/Bouncing Souls split series CD that BYO put out probably over 20 years ago now. I felt like the word fascist was in like every Anti-Flag song on there.

Their Bouncing Souls cover was decent though.

I only got it cause I'm a fan of the Bouncing Souls.

I credit AF for getting me into other bands, like Streetlight, Propaghandi, and Gorilla Biscuits. I don't go out of my way to listen to AF any more but they still hold a place in my heart. Plus I've worked with them at festivals a few times, really nice dudes

 

[Devil X]

Always looked at this as a 50/50 split to start the season until someone set themselves apart.

VV did that to me he has clearly set himself up as the starter even when Blackwood or Bernier come back.

The one thing I don’t agree with is losing your spot because of injury. Means that as good as Schmid has been he should be sent down and Blackwood should be placed into the backup role until he plays himself out of that role or the season ends. At least we know we can go into next season with VV and Schmid.

I don’t recall Blackwood playing badly at the start of the season before he got hurt.

I have no idea what to do with Bernier when he’s healthy.

 

[Bleedred]

Always looked at this as a 50/50 split to start the season until someone set themselves apart.

VV did that to me he has clearly set himself up as the starter even when Blackwood or Bernier come back.

The one thing I don’t agree with is losing your spot because of injury. Means that as good as Schmid has been he should be sent down and Blackwood should be placed into the backup role until he plays himself out of that role or the season ends. At least we know we can go into next season with VV and Schmid.

I don’t recall Blackwood playing badly at the start of the season before he got hurt.

I have no idea what to do with Bernier when he’s healthy.

He did just enough in his bad games (Philadelphia and Washington) for me to consider him to have been “Playing badly” before he got hurt. The team had to play really good in some of those good games he had. And yes, they’ve certainly done that in some of Vitek’s games and probably a couple of Schmid’s too.

Bernier will likely never play again. I won’t believe it until I see it, but even if he does, I’m pretty sure he’s behind all 3 guys on the depth chart that have played NHL games for us this year.

 

[Guttersniped]

We aren’t hearing anything about Bernier practicing with the team, I think we can assume the setback was bad until we hear otherwise. Fitz didn’t sound optimistic when he talked about him a while back.

For some reason this organization still has a major erection for him, although that could have changed with his injury and the recent Vanecek run.

He's still getting opportunities based a run like the one Vanecek is currently on, but which happened just about 3 years ago now.

And he had a pretty good to start 20-21, which is almost identical to Schmid's start this year. I mean, I know Schmid has played weaker teams and has also played much more sparsely in that run, like once a week, but point still stands.

It's pathetic. If Blackwood weren't injured, he would have gotten way more starts, Vanecek would have gotten less and Schmid wouldn't even be a thing.

They couldn't help themselves with this guy, that's why he was starting opening night, despite being the inferior goalie in preseason. He was getting consecutive starts after Vitek started ROLLING.

It's a joke. Just like this player. A JOKE.

Maybe he's just not any good and didn't just get bad in the last couple years, is that possible? Did you see his AHL career? TRASH.

I will push back on your fantasy that this team has “a major erection” for Blackwood even though I know I it falls on the deafest of ears.

We needed him because teams need two NHL goalies and this was supposed to be a tandem. Vanacek had never played more than 39 games in his two seasons in the NHL. He had a shaky start too.

There’s no proof that Blackwood would have gotten way more starts.

Blackwood got the 1st game in Philly (which is not “opening night” btw) because he has historically played well against Philly, especially there.

Vanacek then got the home opener, which is “opening night” and a much bigger game, which he lost 5-3 too.

After that loss Blackwood got another shot and got the win vs Ducks. He then got the win Isles and Sharks, and gave up 1 GA in each of those games. The team had just stabilized.

He gave Blackwood the Caps game and he got pulled in that loss.

Then Vanacek got Detroit, Colorado and Columbus.

Blackwood then got Vancouver and that makes sense if you look at his crazy good career numbers against the Canucks.

I’m assuming Blackwood then played in Edmonton after Vancouver (where he last got injured) because he was historically complete dog shit in Calgary so Vanacek was going to get that game.

None of this screams favoritism. If Blackwood didn’t get injured “Vanecek would have gotten less and Schmid wouldn't even be a thing”. Yes? That’s how injuries and call ups work.

 

[Bleedred]

We aren’t hearing anything about Bernier practicing with the team, I think we can assume the setback was bad until we hear otherwise. Fitz didn’t sound optimistic when he talked about him a while back.



I will push back on your fantasy that this team has “a major erection” for Blackwood even though I know I it falls on the deafest of ears.

We needed him because teams need two NHL goalies and this was supposed to be a tandem. Vanacek had never played more than 39 games in his two seasons in the NHL. He had a shaky start too.

There’s no proof that Blackwood would have gotten way more starts.

Blackwood got the 1st game in Philly (which is not “opening night” btw) because he has historically played well against Philly, especially there.

Vanacek then got the home opener, which is “opening night” and a much bigger game, which he lost 5-3 too.

After that loss Blackwood got another shot and got the win vs Ducks. He then got the win Isles and Sharks, and gave up 1 GA in each of those games. The team had just stabilized.

He gave Blackwood the Caps game and he got pulled in that loss.

Then Vanacek got Detroit, Colorado and Columbus.

Blackwood then got Vancouver and that makes sense if you look at his crazy good career numbers against the Canucks.

I’m assuming Blackwood then played in Edmonton after Vancouver (where he last got injured) because he was historically complete dog shit in Calgary so Vanacek was going to get that game.

None of this screams favoritism. If Blackwood didn’t get injured “Vanecek would have gotten less and Schmid wouldn't even be a thing”. Yes? That’s how injuries and call ups work.

Tandem - This shouldn't have been one. At least not to start. Between Vanecek's hot preseason, being the better goalie the last two years, Blackwood being the worst non-AHL call up player on the team last year and his last two regular seasons being poor, Vanecek should have been given the season opener and more starts unless he started showing he wasn't capable, which he has to this point. And it wouldn't have happened if not for the injury. I'm not saying he should have played every game, but Blackwood probably should have been treated and played the way Schmid has been played since he got injured. So like once a week-ish?

Now, I had no problems with Blackwood getting those 3 straight games AFTER his Philly disaster and Vitek's Detroit home opening disaster. He did play well in those games, even though a couple of them were some of the best defensive efforts we'll see. And yes, Vitek and Akira have both benefited from some of those games being played in front of them too.

Where they really started to lose me was once again throwing him in there against Edmonton. And how can you be so sure Vitek was getting Calgary if Blackwood didn't win that Edmonton game? They let him play 3 games in a row before that, when he won 3 games in a row in his first consecutive stretch of games. I remember the speculation around here being that he might not play Edmonton because he had horrible numbers against them in his career. I didn't like playing him against Vancouver, but it made sense, because it truly would have been the ''One game a week'' since there were no back to backs.

If you remember, both Ruff and Blackwood seemed to heavily imply during their post game pressers in Vancouver that he would have started another game between his Washington blowout and pull and that Vancouver game 8 nights later. The explanation was that he was nursing a ''Sore elbow'' and he even sat out practice the day the 1-0 Colorado win, while the EBUG practiced in his place. Remember I half jokingly said they held him out of practice that day because they were having a fan or season ticket holder autograph signing event and that they wanted to keep him away from the fans after the shelling and Bronx cheering the last game he played before.

If he didn't get hurt, he would have gotten all the starts Schmid got (or as many games, it's hard to say he would have gotten the same exact games that Schmid got or the same opponents), plus I'm willing to bet 3-4 of Vanecek's starts. Maybe even 5 if they didn't sit him that stretch of games where he had the ''Sore elbow'', but still dressed.

This team and their media department has constantly hyped him up. Especially after the ''We're giving him the ball'' comments from Ruff last January. There was nothing but talk about it from that guy (I think he's the dude subbing for Matt on the radio PBP right now) during either one of the scrimmages or one of the preseason games that were streaming.

For some reason, he's been talked up as one of the core players here. At least coming into this season, likely not at this point from anybody other than maybe his biggest superfans.

He was NEVER ELITE. If he was elite, Vanecek has been elite this season. Blackwood's best stretch ever in the NHL was no better than Vanecek's run this year, although it did go on a bit longer. And that was just about 3 years ago when he had that run. I think he did have about a 28 game stretch of .928% or something from December 2019-February 2020 and maybe even a 36 game stretch of .920% or something. I ran the numbers a while ago, so I forget. This was back when he was being called the ''Best goalie in the world since Hynes was fired''. As if Vasilevskiy's 2020 playoffs while Blackwood sat home weren't enough for him to be the best goalie in the world at that time.

Now that we have a cushion, I'm sure they'll let him 'Try to find his rhythm'' but I think the people (not just me) have finally had enough of him. They were really turning on him during his last home game.

And you know what? I bet he'll play well enough at some point for a stretch of games that he fools fans and maybe even the front office into thinking he's back. Because bad goalies aren't bad every game, nor consistently bad every single month or even half a season. See: Cory Schneider's 2019 portion of the 2018-2019 season. ''Oh he's back! You're wrong Bleed! He's bouncing back! It's not a market correction! He only played those first 9 games poorly cause he was injured!''. Remember some of Martin Brodeur's crazy half season runs in his decline years too. He was literally a .920%-ish goalie for I think it was about 60 games between February of 2012 and February of 2013, including the entire 2012 playoffs.

Yes, I do believe they've given this player more rope than they should because they ''Hope'' he's what they thought he might be 3 years ago.

In conclusion, I think Blackwood might have very well been better than an .880% if he hadn't got hurt, which is his save percentage to this point, but I also don't think it would be much better than a .900%. He would have probably struggled to stay too much above that.

 

[glenwo2]

Tandem - This shouldn't have been one. At least not to start. Between Vanecek's hot preseason, being the better goalie the last two years, Blackwood being the worst non-AHL call up player on the team last year and his last two regular seasons being poor, Vanecek should have been given the season opener and more starts unless he started showing he wasn't capable, which he has to this point. And it wouldn't have happened if not for the injury. I'm not saying he should have played every game, but Blackwood probably should have been treated and played the way Schmid has been played since he got injured. So like once a week-ish?

Now, I had no problems with Blackwood getting those 3 straight games AFTER his Philly disaster and Vitek's Detroit home opening disaster. He did play well in those games, even though a couple of them were some of the best defensive efforts we'll see. And yes, Vitek and Akira have both benefited from some of those games being played in front of them too.

Where they really started to lose me was once again throwing him in there against Edmonton. And how can you be so sure Vitek was getting Calgary if Blackwood didn't win that Edmonton game? They let him play 3 games in a row before that, when he won 3 games in a row in his first consecutive stretch of games. I remember the speculation around here being that he might not play Edmonton because he had horrible numbers against them in his career. I didn't like playing him against Vancouver, but it made sense, because it truly would have been the ''One game a week'' since there were no back to backs.

If you remember, both Ruff and Blackwood seemed to heavily imply during their post game pressers in Vancouver that he would have started another game between his Washington blowout and pull and that Vancouver game 8 nights later. The explanation was that he was nursing a ''Sore elbow'' and he even sat out practice the day the 1-0 Colorado win, while the EBUG practiced in his place. Remember I half jokingly said they held him out of practice that day because they were having a fan or season ticket holder autograph signing event and that they wanted to keep him away from the fans after the shelling and Bronx cheering the last game he played before.

If he didn't get hurt, he would have gotten all the starts Schmid got (or as many games, it's hard to say he would have gotten the same exact games that Schmid got or the same opponents), plus I'm willing to bet 3-4 of Vanecek's starts. Maybe even 5 if they didn't sit him that stretch of games where he had the ''Sore elbow'', but still dressed.

This team and their media department has constantly hyped him up. Especially after the ''We're giving him the ball'' comments from Ruff last January. There was nothing but talk about it from that guy (I think he's the dude subbing for Matt on the radio PBP right now) during either one of the scrimmages or one of the preseason games that were streaming.

For some reason, he's been talked up as one of the core players here. At least coming into this season, likely not at this point from anybody other than maybe his biggest superfans.

He was NEVER ELITE. If he was elite, Vanecek has been elite this season. Blackwood's best stretch ever in the NHL was no better than Vanecek's run this year, although it did go on a bit longer. And that was just about 3 years ago when he had that run. I think he did have about a 28 game stretch of .928% or something from December 2019-February 2020 and maybe even a 36 game stretch of .922% or something. I ran the numbers a while ago, so I forget. This was back when he was being called the ''Best goalie in the world since Hynes was fired''. As if Vasilevskiy's 2020 playoffs while Blackwood sat home weren't enough for him to be the best goalie in the world at that time.

Now that we have a cushion, I'm sure they'll let him 'Try to find his rhythm'' but I think the people (not just me) have finally had enough of him. They were really turning on him during his last home game.

And you know what? I bet he'll play well enough at some point for a stretch of games that he fools fans and maybe even the front office into thinking he's back. Because bad goalies aren't bad every game, nor consistently bad every single month or even half a season. See: Cory Schneider's 2019 portion of the 2018-2019 season. ''Oh he's back! You're wrong Bleed! He's bouncing back! It's not a market correction! He only played those first 9 games poorly cause he was injured!''. Remember some of Martin Brodeur's crazy half season runs in his decline years too. He was literally a .920%-ish goalie for I think it was about 60 games between February of 2012 and February of 2013, including the entire 2012 playoffs.

Yes, I do believe they've given this player more rope than they should because they ''Hope'' he's what they thought he might be 3 years ago.

In conclusion, I think Blackwood might have very well been better than an .880% if he hadn't got hurt, which is his save percentage to this point, but I also don't think it would be much better than a .900%. He would have probably struggled to stay too much above that.

TLDR version : Blackwood sucks. Deal with it.

 

[HBK27]

It's a shame that Bernier can't get healthy or be waived while injured as him being on LTIR prevents us from accumulating any cap space this season...though who knows how aggressive Fitz would even be if we had more cap room.

Would like to see some more of Schmid to see if he can keep his performance up. Bit of a shame that two of our easier matchups this month (Philly and Chicago) were during the spread out part of the schedule, which was understandable to give VV the start, and the upcoming Philly game also has a day off in between.

I would assume VV gets the start against the Rangers, being our biggest as well as a division rival, and then depending on the workload and results of that game, Ruff will make the decision for the following night's starter against Dallas. Maybe VV gets the back-to-back start knowing he could get 3 days rest afterward if Schmid starts against Philly (as well as only 1 start in a 6 day period assuming VV gets the Florida game).

Certainly a good thing about VV & Schmid's performance is that it gives Blackwood more than enough time to completely heal and hopefully get a couple rehab starts in Utica. I don't recall the rules for how long he can be send down there, but at least we're coming up on the part of their schedule where some weekday games are mixed in instead of only Friday/Saturday, which should hopefully allow him to get 2 starts that aren't back-to-back.

 

[Bleedred]

TLDR version : Blackwood sucks. Deal with it.

My biggest fear at this point is that he plays well for enough games that they'll re-up him at his qualifying offer (I don't think they would if the season ended next week) for one more year.

And then next year we can do the 19-20 Schneider-Blackwood tandem all over again, only it'll be Vanecek-Blackwood or f***, maybe even Blackwood-Vanecek.

And then after he PREDICTABLY BY ME (and yes, I have an EGO about it, because of how much SHIT I TOOK from people mocking me for the market correction stuff) bombs so bad that he's waived by November (if he's not injured first) like what happened in 2019 to the other guy, we probably won't hurt as much as Schmid or Daws will likely be better call ups than Louis Domingue, but it will hurt us cap wise.

We really shouldn't have any desire to spend $6.5-$7.5 million on a Blackwood-Vanecek tandem for next year because more than a million a year is too much for Blackwood with how poorly he's performed (and hasn't been available) on his current 3 year deal.

Like I said, if the season ended today, we wouldn't be extending him. Not at his qualifying offer.

Didn't we not qualify DSP and Jon Merrill back in 2016 because we didn't wanna pay their qualifying offers, yet we wound up re-signing them to lower deals anyway before they could go UFA?

 

[Bleedred]

It's a shame that Bernier can't get healthy or be waived while injured as him being on LTIR prevents us from accumulating any cap space this season...though who knows how aggressive Fitz would even be if we had more cap room.

Would like to see some more of Schmid to see if he can keep his performance up. Bit of a shame that two of our easier matchups this month (Philly and Chicago) were during the spread out part of the schedule, which was understandable to give VV the start, and the upcoming Philly game also has a day off in between.

I would assume VV gets the start against the Rangers, being our biggest as well as a division rival, and then depending on the workload and results of that game, Ruff will make the decision for the following night's starter against Dallas. Maybe VV gets the back-to-back start knowing he could get 3 days rest afterward if Schmid starts against Philly (as well as only 1 start in a 6 day period assuming VV gets the Florida game).

Certainly a good thing about VV & Schmid's performance is that it gives Blackwood more than enough time to completely heal and hopefully get a couple rehab starts in Utica. I don't recall the rules for how long he can be send down there, but at least we're coming up on the part of their schedule where some weekday games are mixed in instead of only Friday/Saturday, which should hopefully allow him to get 2 starts that aren't back-to-back.

I don't know if the rules have changed since 2018-2019, but Cory Schneider played 8 games in the AHL in 18-19. I didn't think you were allowed to give conditioning stints for 8 games, so maybe it's possible he got TWO different conditioning stints that year? I know he didn't start the year healthy and they basically played Kinkaid the entire first month, with Eddie Lack backing up most games. Maybe Schneider had one of his conditioning stints early in the year and then another later in the year? I think that's probably how it went. They were definitely both conditioning stints, he wasn't waived that year at any point like he was the next year.

 

[HBK27]

My biggest fear at this point is that he plays well for enough games that they'll re-up him at his qualifying offer (I don't think they would if the season ended next week) for one more year.

And then next year we can do the 19-20 Schneider-Blackwood tandem all over again, only it'll be Vanecek-Blackwood or f***, maybe even Blackwood-Vanecek.

And then after he PREDICTABLY BY ME (and yes, I have an EGO about it, because of how much SHIT I TOOK from people mocking me for the market correction stuff) bombs so bad that he's waived by November (if he's not injured first) like what happened in 2019 to the other guy, we probably won't hurt as much as Schmid or Daws will likely be better call ups than Louis Domingue, but it will hurt us cap wise.

We really shouldn't have any desire to spend $6.5-$7.5 million on a Blackwood-Vanecek tandem for next year because more than a million a year is too much for Blackwood with how poorly he's performed (and hasn't been available) on his current 3 year deal.

Like I said, if the season ended today, we wouldn't be extending him. Not at his qualifying offer.

Didn't we not qualify DSP and Jon Merrill back in 2016 because we didn't wanna pay their qualifying offers, yet we wound up re-signing them to lower deals anyway before they could go UFA?

Your biggest fear is that one of our players will play well this season?

It's this type of stuff (along with 90%+ of the fanbase completely writing him off) that has me rooting like hell for the guy.

 

[Bleedred]

Your biggest fear is that one of our players will play well this season?

It's this type of stuff (along with 90%+ of the fanbase completely writing him off) that has me rooting like hell for the guy.

I'd rather he doesn't PLAY those games and one of the guys that's actually been playing well this year (and past year's in Vanecek's case) gets them instead.

I'm done with him.

Goalies usually don't bounce back after a stretch like this, I hate to tell you. And when they do, it's usually temporary. It's usually not permanent. Sometimes a change of scenery can help them like Steve Mason who revived his career for several seasons after a BUNCH of poor seasons in Columbus.

And you can sit here and say he's only had a bad 60 games, but his AHL career SUCKED.

Him playing well enough to get a new contract next year is basically nothing but smoke and mirrors. Like Schneider's 2019 portion of the 18-19 season. And we definitely don't need a $1 million dollar goalie making $3 or $4 million next year.

He's easily the worst player on the team. He's a goalie, the most important position. And when a goalie is BAD (like he is), that's gonna hurt you way more than a bad Geertsen, a bad McLeod, a bad Smith.

And outside of Geertsen, I would say every other player complained about here is better at their position than Blackwood is at his.

 

[HBK27]

I'd rather he doesn't PLAY those games and one of the guys that's actually been playing well this year (and past year's in Vanecek's case) gets them instead.

I'm done with him.

Goalies usually don't bounce back after a stretch like this, I hate to tell you. And when they do, it's usually temporary. It's usually not permanent. Sometimes a change of scenery can help them like Steve Mason who revived his career for several seasons after a BUNCH of poor seasons in Columbus.

And you can sit here and say he's only had a bad 60 games, but his AHL career SUCKED.

Him playing well enough to get a new contract next year is basically nothing but smoke and mirrors. Like Schneider's 2019 portion of the 18-19 season. And we definitely don't need a $1 million dollar goalie making $3 or $4 million next year.

He's easily the worst player on the team. He's a goalie, the most important position. And when a goalie is BAD (like he is), that's gonna hurt you way more than a bad Geertsen, a bad McLeod, a bad Smith.

And outside of Geertsen, I would say every other player complained about here is better at their position than Blackwood is at his.

I know your position on Blackwood very, very well.

I'm just not a fan of actively rooting against a guy on the team.

I'm hoping he plays well and that Schmid and Vanecek continue to play well. At the very least, it would build some trade value for Blackwood this offseason or perhaps even sooner depending on their level of confidence in Schmid and Daws.

 

[Bleedred]

I know your position on Blackwood very, very well.

I'm just not a fan of actively rooting against a guy on the team.

I'm hoping he plays well and that Schmid and Vanecek continue to play well. At the very least, it would build some trade value for Blackwood this offseason or perhaps even sooner depending on their level of confidence in Schmid and Daws.

There's no trade value for him this offseason.

I don't think anybody is trading for him knowing they'll have to qualify him at $3-$4 million (there seems to be differing numbers of what exactly his qualifying offer is), which is too much for what he's shown the last 2 years. Unless he has an insane run this year, which probably means the Devils keep him and qualify him for one year.

I think there's a better chance someone trades for him in-season, if they need the goalie depth NOW and just aren't worried about qualifying him next year right now.

I think if he was waived someone would probably pick him up, just because he's on an expiring contract. I don't think we're at the point where they wanna waive him yet, just because if Schmid falters then we're left with Daws up next, who clearly wasn't ready for the NHL last year, but similarly to Schmid he did look good the first handful of games.

 

[HBK27]

There's no trade value for him this offseason.

I don't think anybody is trading for him knowing they'll have to qualify him at $3-$4 million (there seems to be differing numbers of what exactly his qualifying offer is), which is too much for what he's shown the last 2 years. Unless he has an insane run this year, which probably means the Devils keep him and qualify him for one year.

I think there's a better chance someone trades for him in-season, if they need the goalie depth NOW and just aren't worried about qualifying him next year right now.

I think if he was waived someone would probably pick him up, just because he's on an expiring contract. I don't think we're at the point where they wanna waive him yet, just because if Schmid falters then we're left with Daws up next, who clearly wasn't ready for the NHL last year, but similarly to Schmid he did look good the first handful of games.

If he plays well when he returns from injury there sure as hell is. Doesn't even have to be an insane run.

There's a lot worse goaltending this season in the NHL versus what Blackwood has shown so far.

 

[glenwo2]

If he plays well when he returns from injury there sure as hell is. Doesn't even have to be an insane run.

There's a lot worse goaltending this season in the NHL versus what Blackwood has shown so far.

Dude...you're not helping your case here.

Martin Jones is better than Mackenzie Blackwood (see the diagram?).

Let me repeat

MARTIN JONES...*that* MARTIN JONES is BETTER than Mackenzie Blackwood.

I mean I get rooting for the guy just 'cause he's a Devil but I hope he won't be a Devil for long because he just plain stinks. (just saying)

 

[HBK27]

Dude...you're not helping your case here.

Martin Jones is better than Mackenzie Blackwood (see the diagram?).

Let me repeat

MARTIN JONES...*that* MARTIN JONES is BETTER than Mackenzie Blackwood.

I mean I get rooting for the guy just 'cause he's a Devil but I hope he won't be a Devil for long because he just plain stinks. (just saying)

What exactly is my case here - that I'm rooting for one of our players to play well?

Or that there are in fact worse goaltenders in this league and that there may be some interest in him, particularly (as I said) if he plays reasonably well once he returns from injury?