Confirmed Signing with Link: [COL] G Mackenzie Blackwood signs extension with the Avalanche (5 years, $5.25M AAV)

[Shark Finn]

Seems a tad steep and risky but the Avalanche had absolutely no choice considering their goaltending woes. Good for both sides involved, hopefully it works out.

 

[trellaine201]

Wow. All I can say.

 

[TheBeard]

The way the cap is going up and if he keeps up his level of play for the year, that extension is going to look like a steal. I see no reason it won't end up being an absolute bargain.

 

[Romang67]

I think this is a great deal. He'd fetch closer to 8 in the summer after putting up big numbers with the Avs.

Blackwood is a great goalie who's played on some bad teams. He's in his physical prime now at 28. I'm not surprised the Avs didn't want to waste time.

Why would he fetch close to $8M?

 

[Vitto79]

Risky business

 

[AslanRH]

No risk.
Worst case he's an expensive placeholder since the Aves drafted 10 goalies in the 2024 draft.

 

[Irishguy42]

Why would he fetch close to $8M?

Because he showed elite numbers after only 4 games played. Don't look at his previous ~200 games of being bad/injury prone.

 

[Crow]

I feel like they could have got him for less term. Much less risk.

 

[Djp]

He's 100% the best goalie we've had since Varlamov.

Good move to get this done early. Wait longer and his value will almost certainly have gone up.

I'm sure there have been many goalies who played great over 5 or so games

That contract is scary

 

[RoyIsALegend]

I feel like they could have got him for less term. Much less risk.

Less term would’ve cost more AAV, which the Avs don’t have available.

 

[Crow]

Less term would’ve cost more AAV, which the Avs don’t have available.

I don’t agree. This should be his 3-4 year price with a proper negotiation.

I think it’s possible they both wanted the extra years. That they are gambling on him.

 

[The Merchant]

Seems like an incredibly risky extension to me. Why the rush?

Avs have seen Grubauer and Kuemper walk in FA after watching this team's defense massively inflate their numbers and, in turn, their contracts. After being forced to witness the absolute disaster that was Alexander Georgiev, it would make sense that they'd want to lock Blackwood up before it gets too close to the summer if they believe he's the guy...which they clearly do.

 

[dez]

The Campbell special, my guess is bought out after year 2.

 

[Richard88]

I know it's only been 4 games, but Blackwood clearly impressed COL staff with his play this year (and possibly last year). Although, SJ and COL are quite different defensive environments.

I guess the question is when did they convince themselves he was a $26M goalie, because 1.5 years ago he was traded for a 6th. Did their pro scouting change their minds on him that much?

It was his RFA rights that were traded for a 6th, so he wasn't traded when under contract. Key point.

 

[Richard88]

I don't think he would've landed this deal even as a UFA.

Daccord just got 5x5 without even playing 100 NHL games yet. And the UFA goalie market next offseason is definitely a sellers market with basically no good options left after Blackwood.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

No risk.
Worst case he's an expensive placeholder since the Aves drafted 10 goalies in the 2024 draft.

Well, hopefully you have plenty of money to sign some of your UFAs with that "no risk" investment. I believe Rantanen is up and Makar in 2 more seasons?

 

[PAZ]

I don’t agree. This should be his 3-4 year price with a proper negotiation.

I think it’s possible they both wanted the extra years. That they are gambling on him.

Blackwood could easily get 3 x $5 mil on the open market, what would be the incentive of signing with Colorado now? 4 years may have been possible.

Avs probably could've waited longer, but there wouldn't be much difference between now and the TDL. There's risk either way, but if the Avs believe in him might as well do it now, rather than waiting. If he has a big playoffs all of a sudden it'a 5-6 x $6 mil contract.

 

[Mattb124]

It is amazing how many hockey fans apparently don’t watch hockey and have developed uninformed opinions because of over-confidence in their ability to interpret a stat sheet. Blackwood was really good last season and so far this season. He is just now showing what his play looks like in front of a competent defense.

 

[AslanRH]

Well, hopefully you have plenty of money to sign some of your UFAs with that "no risk" investment. I believe Rantanen is up and Makar in 2 more seasons?

you believe well.
Good thing those 10 goalie prospects on ELCs will start filling in the backup position soon. Probably have to carry 3 tenders and play a couple more on the 4th line by 2030

 

[Richard88]

Wouldn't be happy with this one as an Avs fan. Things have to go very right for this to end up being a good contract. He's been very up and down during his career so it's very tilted to the risky side.

No reason, given the term and the cap hit, to hand this contract out after 4 games with the term and take that risk. He wasn't getting any or much more term or money in FA.

Good luck!

No reason? Hardly.

If Blackwood continues to do well this year and in the playoffs is UFA pricetag would certainly be considerably higher than this, especially with the UFA goalie market being so bleak this coming offseason.

Moreover, having cost certainty in net for the foreseeable future gives the Avs the clarity they need with a massive contract with Rantanen to get done in the next few months. Not to mention other parts like Malinski, Drouin, and Kiviranta who they may also want to bring back.

 

[Soul Assumption]

Unlike Georgiev he's good.

Georgiev was .918 his first year with Colorado. I even remember Colorado fans saying they got the best goalie from New York lmao. They are the same age and have the same stats 0.906 vs 0.905

 

[JLo217]

5 x 5.25 for a waiver wire goalie after 4 good games? This is one of the more insane contracts I've seen. It's like the Avs are somehow blessed with a great team but on the condition they have to make exclusively bad goalie decisions.

What? Says the fan of a team paying Bob...

Another clueless east coast fan who watches the western teams once a year lol

 

[tmg]

It was his RFA rights that were traded for a 6th, so he wasn't traded when under contract. Key point.

The full story is that the Devils weren’t going to tender him a qualifying offer (he was fourth in a bad pecking order, after Vanecek Schmid Daws) so they traded those rights because a 6th is better than nothing.

San Jose proceeded to also not even tender him a qualifying offer. This man was an unrestricted free agent on July 1 of last year, because he had so little value San Jose was willing to let him walk to try to get him to sign to a pay cut less than his QO. And it worked. No other team wanted him so San Jose was, in fact, able to get him to sign a contract worth less aav than his QO would have been. They dared him to go out and play musical chairs and then he came back through the doggy door when he found there were no better chairs.

So to even say his rights were traded for a 6th is an overstatement. San Jose traded for and then immediately forfeited rfa rights to him and then got him at a discount as a ufa. And an .899 half-tandem season later he was suddenly a hot commodity.

 

[Richard88]

Really can't imagine blackwood getting more than this in free agency even if he put up stellar numbers given his history.

Grubauer and Kuemper both got massive paydays after having their numbers pumped playing for this team. Georgiev also had his numbers pumped for the first year or so. More than likely Blackwood would have posted good numbers behind this team too to earn a big payday as by far the best UFA goalie on the market.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

That’s crazy.

It’s possible he’ll prove worth it, but he’s sucked three years in a row before this year. Giving out a five year deal to a player with that track record? Not very smart, but at least he’s coming cheap and you can bury his salary if he goes back to sucking, right? Wrong. That AAV is what makes it terrible.

Not to say he can’t come good, but that was not a smart decision with the information we have right now. It’s very risky and could come back to seriously bite them.