DENVER (AP) — On his 28th birthday, goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood received a trade to the Colorado Avalanche along with some friendly advice.
“Just stop the puck,” Avs general manager Chris MacFarland said of the message to his newest goaltender. “That's what we're looking for from him.”
Seems simple enough, but that inability to stop shots on a consistent basis this season led the Avalanche to trade another goaltender on Monday. The Avs swapped netminders with San Jose, sending a struggling Alexandar Georgiev to the Sharks for Blackwood.
As part of the deal, the Avalanche also acquired forward Givani Smith along with San Jose’s fifth-round pick in 2027. The Sharks received forward Nikolai Kovalenko and two draft picks — a fifth-round selection in 2025 and a second-round pick in 2026.
Colorado will retain 14% of Georgiev's contract, which equates to approximately $476,000. He was in the last season of a $10.2 million, three-year deal.
“We paid a steep price,” MacFarland said in a Zoom call. “At the end of the day, I didn’t want to wait and be in a position where we had to do something. We just felt this made a lot of sense for us right now.”
On Nov. 30, Colorado shook up its goaltending situation by trading backup Justus Annunen to Nashville for Scott Wedgewood.
The Avalanche, who have allowed 3.55 goals per game this season, made a more dramatic move in net on Monday. The 28-year-old Georgiev had a slow start to the season, even spending some time on the bench. He is 8-7 with a 3.38 goals-against average and a .874 save percentage.
“We felt we needed an upgrade a few weeks ago and started kicking the tires," MacFarland said. “But it’s not easy to make goaltending trades. People think it’s just pick up the phone and make an offer — teams don’t trade starting goaltenders in this league easily. So for us to make these two deals, it was a challenge.”
Georgiev was acquired by Colorado in a deal with New York Rangers on July 7, 2022. He made the NHL All-Star Game a year ago in a season when he finished with a league-leading 38 wins. He wound up 86-41-11 in an Avalanche sweater.
Blackwood also started off slow this season, with an 0-2-2 mark. But he has a 2.72 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage over his last 14 appearances. On Oct. 22, Blackwood celebrated his 200th career game by stopping 37 of 39 shots in a 3-1 loss to Anaheim.
“We believe there’s some untapped, still potential in him as he’s growing as a goaltender," MacFarland said. "We think he's stylistically going to fit really well with how we play.”
MacFarland said Blackwood was under the weather and won't join the team in Pittsburgh for the Avalanche's game Tuesday. Instead, he will head to Denver.
“I chatted with him briefly, he's super excited — as are we,” MacFarland said. “He knows the opportunity in front of him.”
The Sharks initially acquired Blackwood from New Jersey in 2023 for a sixth-round pick. By trading Blackwood to the Avalanche, the Sharks were able to net a prized prospect in Kovalenko and future assets in the draft.
A rookie this season, Kovalenko has four goals and four assists over 28 games. He's currently ninth in goals among first-year players. The 25-year-old Kovalenko made his NHL debut during Game 4 of Colorado's first-round playoff series last season. He became the sixth player in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to have his NHL debut arrive in the playoffs.
“You’ve got to give to get. The goalie market, it’s a bear," MacFarland said of including Kovalenko in the deal. “That was the cost of doing business. ... We had to swallow hard and include him in the deal. We wish him nothing but the best."
Smith has played in six games for San Jose this season. The 26-year-old was originally selected by Detroit in the second round of the 2016 draft.
___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Pat Graham, The Associated Press