G Mackenzie Blackwood (2015, 42nd, NJD)

[Pavel Buchnevich]

It was the classic case of being mad about a player's performance in a short tournament instead of evaluating that player's skill-set and performance over the course of the last few years.

Blackwood is one of the best goalie prospects in recent years.

 

[TheKrebsCycle]

It was the classic case of being mad about a player's performance in a short tournament instead of evaluating that player's skill-set and performance over the course of the last few years.

Blackwood is one of the best goalie prospects in recent years.

He's a pretty decent goalie but he's prone to backbreaking/bad goals way more often than he should be. I watch the Colts on a regular basis and he doesn't impress me nearly as much as the team in front of him (strong team not London, Kingston, Windsor good). The goalie I saw at the WJC is not all that different from the one who shows up for Barrie once in awhile. His struggles continued when he got back from the WJC (seemed broken/tentative/lacking confidence), but he's been better lately. Anyway I'm a Barrie Colt fan but not one particularly of Blackwood. Big/atheltic/potential but I'm not sure he has it between the ears.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

He's a pretty decent goalie but he's prone to backbreaking/bad goals way more often than he should be. I watch the Colts on a regular basis and he doesn't impress me nearly as much as the team in front of him (strong team not London, Kingston, Windsor good). The goalie I saw at the WJC is not all that different from the one who shows up for Barrie once in awhile. His struggles continued when he got back from the WJC (seemed broken/tentative/lacking confidence), but he's been better lately. Anyway I'm a Barrie Colt fan but not one particularly of Blackwood. Big/atheltic/potential but I'm not sure he has it between the ears.

He's also 19. I don't think anyone's expecting him to step into the NHL next season. He has the tools, he needs time.

 

[Baemon Severson*]

.924 so far in the OHL playoffs

 

[TMLeafs18]

I saw three of the four games in his last series. He played well and did what he had to do. In all the games he got a decent amount of shots but not many of them tested him. Barrie dominated the games and played well defensively. I'm interested to see how he plays against a better offensive team in the ice dogs.

 

[thethinglonger]

This coming series between Nedeljkovic and Blackwood should be phenomenal

 

[John Pedro]

Mackenzie Blackwood Named OHL Goaltender of the Year

Blackwood played in 43 games this season posting a record of 28-13-0-0 with three shutout victories along with a goals-against-average of 2.72. He also tied for the league-lead with a .921 save percentage while backstopping the Colts to their second straight Central Division title.

well done, Mack!

 

[Thebesthockey]

could of used some of that mvp in the world juniors

but whatever...

 

[Moveslikejagr247]

could of used some of that mvp in the world juniors

but whatever...

this. same With lowry and whl Coach of the year

 

[John Pedro]

Blackwood stopped 42 out of 45 shots in his AHL debut. Albany won 4-3.

 

[TimeZone]

Man, those are some ugly numbers in the A this year. Surprised he has so many GP.

I know he's young, but a 3.47 GAA and an 0.882 SV%? Yikes.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Man, those are some ugly numbers in the A this year. Surprised he has so many GP.

I know he's young, but a 3.47 GAA and an 0.882 SV%? Yikes.

Yea, after a great start to so many prospects the tumble has been real. He just turned 20 and probably could have stayed in the OHL. With injury to Wedgewood, Blackwood is going to learn how to swim before he can walk...or drown.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Appleby should be given the reigns until Blackwood gets acclimated properly. It's really rough transitioning into the AHL for a young goalie especially coming out of the CHL. Even last year there were really only about three rookie goalies who were average to above average in the AHL last season. Even now Blackwood and Nedeljkovic are struggling.

 

[Tripod]

Man, those are some ugly numbers in the A this year. Surprised he has so many GP.

I know he's young, but a 3.47 GAA and an 0.882 SV%? Yikes.

The kids are so young, things can change quickly. Look at Stolarz from Philly and his 4 years of development:

Best SV% in OHL
struggles as rookie in AHL .905 SV% 3.28 GAA
becomes AHL All Star the following year
Now getting a taste of NHL backup 2-0

Blackwood is a very talented goalie. That usually doesn't go away, just the confidence does. I expect him to rebound this year...of even next year. He is too good to be this bad....if that makes sense.

 

[KovalSNIPE]

58 saves last night in 3OT loss... holy moly

 

[Baemon Severson*]

Great end to the season and finished at .928 in the playoffs

 

[Classic Devil]

Blackwood clearly has the talent to be a quality NHL starter, but he needs to work on consistency.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Great end to the season and finished at .928 in the playoffs

If you're going to get knocked out force the other team into a +100 minute game while facing 60 shots. The 0.928 SV% is slightly misleading though. In his four playoff starts Blackwood posted two Quality Starts (Posted League Avg. SV% or higher), a replacement level start, and a "Really Bad Start".

Game 1: 1.000
Game 2: 0.692
Game 3: 0.880
Game 4: 0.967

It is promising though to see that Blackwood in his Draft Year+2 was thought of highly enough of by his coach to start all four playoff games over Ken Appleby when most of his draft peers are still in junior.

Blackwood clearly has the talent to be a quality NHL starter, but he needs to work on consistency.

You can realistically say that about every young goalie making the transition into the AHL. It is really hard to be average, let along above average, in consistency for a 20/21yo goalie. The top rookies in the AHL nearly every year are the 22/23yo guys coming in from either the NCAA or the European leagues. Takes a special goalie to make a smooth transition into the AHL like Juuse Saros.

 

[Classic Devil]

You can realistically say that about every young goalie making the transition into the AHL. It is really hard to be average, let along above average, in consistency for a 20/21yo goalie. The top rookies in the AHL nearly every year are the 22/23yo guys coming in from either the NCAA or the European leagues. Takes a special goalie to make a smooth transition into the AHL like Juuse Saros.

Honestly, I can realistically say that about most every goalie. As a Devils fan I suppose I've been forever spoiled, as Martin Brodeur was my team's goaltender for my first twenty years of fandom, and no one is as consistent as he was year in and year out. But Blackwood has had a marked tendency to have spectacular performances and horrible performances which is by no means a death knell, but it nonetheless something to watch.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Honestly, I can realistically say that about most every goalie. As a Devils fan I suppose I've been forever spoiled, as Martin Brodeur was my team's goaltender for my first twenty years of fandom, and no one is as consistent as he was year in and year out. But Blackwood has had a marked tendency to have spectacular performances and horrible performances which is by no means a death knell, but it nonetheless something to watch.

As an Avs fan I'm jealous the Devils got to hold onto Brodeur for so long. We lost Roy and our team took a decade to recover in net. I agree with you on Blackwood and one can look at his four playoff starts to see you have a point about the high high's and the low low's of Blackwood. He's in a good situation though in Albany behind a decent team that will provide him support. I view the first pro year as adjusting to the speed of the game and learning. It's the next season where it'll be important to see what improvements are made.

 

[Zippy316]

If you're going to get knocked out force the other team into a +100 minute game while facing 60 shots. The 0.928 SV% is slightly misleading though. In his four playoff starts Blackwood posted two Quality Starts (Posted League Avg. SV% or higher), a replacement level start, and a "Really Bad Start".

Game 1: 1.000
Game 2: 0.692
Game 3: 0.880
Game 4: 0.967

It is promising though to see that Blackwood in his Draft Year+2 was thought of highly enough of by his coach to start all four playoff games over Ken Appleby when most of his draft peers are still in junior.

To your point:

You can realistically say that about every young goalie making the transition into the AHL. It is really hard to be average, let along above average, in consistency for a 20/21yo goalie. The top rookies in the AHL nearly every year are the 22/23yo guys coming in from either the NCAA or the European leagues. Takes a special goalie to make a smooth transition into the AHL like Juuse Saros.

Seemed like Blackwood struggled a ton with a lot of the minute details of being a pro goalie. Had trouble tracking pucks, would get beat on some weak shots, his positioning would be off a bit, or he would just underestimate shooters.

Much better second half which is all you really want to see from a prospect -- consistent improvement. His lateral mobility and reflexes are incredible to watch though; Combined with his size he could be a hell of a goalie if everything comes together.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

To your point:




Seemed like Blackwood struggled a ton with a lot of the minute details of being a pro goalie. Had trouble tracking pucks, would get beat on some weak shots, his positioning would be off a bit, or he would just underestimate shooters.

Much better second half which is all you really want to see from a prospect -- consistent improvement. His lateral mobility and reflexes are incredible to watch though; Combined with his size he could be a hell of a goalie if everything comes together.

To his SV% jumping up, that's why I like using other statistics along with SV%. Shows that goaltending stats have a bit of a ways to go yet.

He definitely has the potential to be a NHLer. Like I said before that transition is rough. Even the highly vaunted Thatcher Demko struggled with consistency. It's just really difficult to translate your success from almost any league into the AHL. Whatever warts you have in the CHL will look huge in the AHL as a goalie. 1st season is the "what do I have to improve on" and the 2nd season is the "what improvements have I made".

 

[Zippy316]

To his SV% jumping up, that's why I like using other statistics along with SV%. Shows that goaltending stats have a bit of a ways to go yet.

He definitely has the potential to be a NHLer. Like I said before that transition is rough. Even the highly vaunted Thatcher Demko struggled with consistency. It's just really difficult to translate your success from almost any league into the AHL. Whatever warts you have in the CHL will look huge in the AHL as a goalie. 1st season is the "what do I have to improve on" and the 2nd season is the "what improvements have I made".

Well it's a four game sample size. Not too surprised at the massive jump.

His first half and second half have reflected those first and second seasons. I don't have the numbers, but I'm almost positive he was under .900 SV% at the turn of the year and pushed that up to .909. That's exactly what you want to see from a young goalie. Probably better than the Devils expected for a 19/20 year old goalie turning pro. Especially after he was thrusted into a tandem role with Appleby with Wedgewood going down with a shoulder injury in the first couple weeks.

Here's his game log which I think verifies what I said above: http://theahl.com/stats/player/6466/54/mackenzie-blackwood

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Well it's a four game sample size. Not too surprised at the massive jump.

His first half and second half have reflected those first and second seasons. I don't have the numbers, but I'm almost positive he was under .900 SV% at the turn of the year and pushed that up to .909. That's exactly what you want to see from a young goalie. Probably better than the Devils expected for a 19/20 year old goalie turning pro. Especially after he was thrusted into a tandem role with Appleby with Wedgewood going down with a shoulder injury in the first couple weeks.

Here's his game log which I think verifies what I said above: http://theahl.com/stats/player/6466/54/mackenzie-blackwood

There was definite improvement in the season from Blackwood. He started 34 games in the regular season. In his first 17 games he posted a 0.294 QS% and in his last 17 games he posted a 0.588 QS% which would have had him as the top 20/21yo goalie in the AHL. Definitely a tale of two halves and shows what a rough transition it is. It's why I prefer those young 20/21yo goalies to spend some time (Month or so) in the ECHL so the step up to the AHL isn't so big.

The second season will still be though "what improvements am I making" because 17 starts isn't a whole lot in a +70 game season. Now he needs to hold that +0.500 QS% over the course of the whole season rather than just half of it.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I always thought this guy was very talented. Could turn into an elite NHL goalie, could turn into a non-NHL'er.