Mackenzie Blackwood Traded To San Jose
The Mackenzie Blackwood saga has reached its conclusion. The Devils are sending the netminder to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick. Kevin Weekes broke the news on Twitter:
**Breaking News**
— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) June 27, 2023
I’m told the @NJDevils are trading G Mackenzie Blackwood to the @SanJoseSharks for a 6th Rd Draft Pick.@espn @NHL @NHLNetwork @TSNHockey @DKSportsbook #HockeyTwitter pic.twitter.com/k8po5G6brI
The fact of the matter was that Blackwood had no more chances in New Jersey. He had shown flashes in the crease, but his time was up. They were ready to give him up for nothing, but San Jose saw enough to part ways with a late draft pick. I think we can all agree that a change of scenery is best for the 26-year-old.
Devil In The Details
New Jersey’s crease is already crowded. You can forget about Jonathan Bernier because he’s on LTIR. But, they’s already got Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid set to battle it out for the #1 spot. Vanacek had a pretty good regular season, but it was Schmid that became the hot hand in the playoffs. I don’t think it’s hard to understand that Blackwood was essentially forgotten about in the midst of the Devils’ revival this season.
On the other hand, the Sharks don’t have a franchise goalie. James Reimer has been their stopgap while Kaapo Kahkonen is nothing to write home about. It is almost certain that one of the two will be moved out to make room for Blackwood. Furthermore, agreeing to a new deal for him shouldn’t be an issue. Anywhere around his previous $2.8 million cap hit should suffice. If it’s a one year prove-it deal, he could either make his stand as their starter, or San Jose could sell him at the deadline to a contender. For a sixth-round pick, I have seen gambles in the NHL go far worse than this.
The Mackenzie Blackwood experiment has come to an end in New Jersey. The Devils now have two better goalies than him and more draft capital to boot.
