The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today the team has acquired goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, forward Givani Smith and a fifth-round draft pick in the 2027 NHL Draft from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, forward Nikolai Kovalenko, a 2025 fifth-round draft pick and a 2026 second-round pick.
Blackwood, 28, has played in 19 games for the San Jose Sharks this season (17 starts) and has registered a 6-9-3 record, a .910 Sv%, a 3.00 GAA and one shutout. The clean sheet came in a 44-save performance in New Jersey on Nov. 10. Blackwood’s six wins lead Sharks netminders in 2024-25 while his .910 Sv% entered Dec. 9 tied for 12th in the NHL among goaltenders with at least 10 games played. Additionally, his 529 saves enter Dec. 9 ranked fifth in the circuit.
After beginning the season with an 0-2-2 record, Blackwood has gone 6-6-1 in his last 14 appearances (since Oct. 28) with a .916 Sv% and 2.72 GAA in that span. He also 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 81-91-25 career record with a .905 Sv%, a 3.07 GAA and 11 shutouts over 215 games with the Sharks and New Jersey Devils from 2018-25. 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 the league’s Goaltender of the Year his final season with the organization. On an international stage, Blackwood represented Canada at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship and at the 2019 World Championship where he captured silver.
Blackwood was originally drafted by New Jersey in the second round (42nd overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft. He was teammates with current Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood in the Devils organization over parts of the 2016-18 and 2020-22 seasons.
Smith, 26, has appeared in six games for the Sharks in 2024-25, his second season with the club. He also skated in 26 contests with San Jose last season and registered four points (1g/3a), with the three helpers matching his career-high.
Since 2019-20, Smith has suited up in 161 career NHL games and tallied 22 points (9g/13a) with the Sharks, Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings. His 46 games in the 2021-22 campaign with Detroit mark a personal-best at the NHL level, while the four goals, three assists (tied) and seven points mark career-highs as well. Smith also dressed for one Stanley Cup Playoff game with the Panthers in Game 1 of the First Round in 2023.
Smith, a native of Toronto, was selected by the Red Wings in the second round (46th overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft.
Georgiev posted an 86-41-11 record with the Avalanche from 2022-25 and was selected to the NHL All-Star Game last season. He was acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers on July 7, 2022.
Kovalenko skated in 28 games for Colorado in his rookie season of 2024-25 and registered eight points (4g/4a). He made his NHL debut in Game Four in the First Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the sixth player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to make his NHL debut in the playoffs.
