The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that the organization has signed goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to a five-year contract extension through the 2029-30 season.
Blackwood has appeared in four games with Colorado since being acquired from San Jose on his 28th birthday (Dec. 9), posting a 3-1-0 record with a 2.03 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. He has dressed in 23 combined games with the Avalanche and Sharks, compiling a 9-10-3 record with one shutout, a 2.83 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage, seventh-best among NHL netminders. Blackwood ranks fifth in the league in saves (639).
“When we acquired Mackenzie a few weeks ago, we wanted to let him get to Denver, get acclimated to his new team, new city and then in due time we’d reach out to him and his representatives,” said Avalanche General Manager Chris MacFarland. “We are thrilled to get this deal done now and have Mackenzie under contract for the next six years. As I said when we acquired him, we feel like Mackenzie has just gotten better and better every year and he has come in and done a great job with us in his first few starts. He's a big body, athletic goaltender who is still young and still growing as a goaltender. Stylistically, he has fit really well with how we play and has been a perfect fit in our dressing room as well.”
Blackwood stopped 37-of-39 shots in his Avalanche debut on Dec. 14, a 5-2 victory over the Nashville Predators at Ball Arena. He became the fourth goaltender to register 37 or more saves in his debut with the franchise, joining Adam Werner (40 on Nov. 12, 2019 at Winnipeg), Craig Anderson (38 on Oct. 1, 2009 vs. San Jose) and Jeremy Smith (37 on Feb. 14, 2017 at New Jersey).
Prior to joining the Avalanche, Blackwood saw action in 19 games (17 starts) for the Sharks, posting a 6-9-3 record, a .910 Sv%, a 3.00 GAA and one shutout. He played his 200th game on Oct. 22 at Anaheim where he stopped 37-of-39 shots.
A native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Blackwood has compiled an 84-92-25 career record with a .905 Sv%, a 3.05 GAA and 11 shutouts over 219 games with the Avalanche, Sharks and New Jersey Devils. He set career-highs in wins (22) and shutouts (3) in 2019-20 over 47 games and finished sixth in Calder Memorial Trophy voting.
Blackwood appeared in 90 AHL games with the Albany/Binghamton Devils from 2016-19 and also played in two contests with the Utica Comets on a conditioning stint in 2022-23. Prior to turning pro, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound goaltender spent three seasons with the OHL’s Barrie Colts from 2013-16 and was named to the 2016 OHL First All-Star Team and was the recipient of the OHL’s Goaltender of the Year award during his final season with the organization. On the international stage, Blackwood represented Canada at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship and at the 2019 World Championship, where he captured silver.
Selected by New Jersey in the second round (42nd overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft, Blackwood was teammates with current Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood in the Devils organization over parts of the 2016-18 and 2020-22 seasons.
