The San Jose Sharks announced that they have signed goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to a two-year deal carrying an average annual value (AAV) of $2.35 million. After being acquired from the New Jersey Devils for a sixth-round draft pick, Blackwood did not receive a qualifying offer, but managed to get a deal inked with the Sharks prior to free agency opening up.
The 26-year-old who was once one of the top young goalies in the league, has been on a steady decline over the past few seasons and dealing with a number of injuries. After two seasons in a row with a sub-.895 save percentage (SV%), Blackwood’s time in New Jersey needed to come to an end. Blackwood has shown plenty of signs of promise over his young, yet experienced career. Playing 20-plus games in five seasons already, he has two seasons with a SV% of .915 or better under his belt.
Fortunately for the Sharks, age isn’t a factor to blame. At just 26, he still has time to bounce back. He underperformed on a very strong Devils team, and while heading to the Sharks doesn’t seem like an optimal place to have a good season as they are amidst their rebuild, there is a lot less pressure on him and he can earn the starter’s role easily in San Jose.
Blackwood Needs to Stay Healthy
As I mentioned, there isn’t going to be a lot of pressure on Blackwood to have a stellar season with the Sharks. He is going to come in and do his best, of course, and with this only being a two-year deal, he is hoping to have a pair of strong seasons and earn his next paycheck. The Sharks’ goaltending situation relying on Blackwood to be the starter, but he has had numerous knee and groin injuries that have kept him sidelined.
Related: THW’s Free Agency Tracker
During his time injured, Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid took over in goal and he lost his spot. He is going to be coming back looking to play the best hockey of his career to this point, and if he can stay consistently healthy he can have a strong bounce-back year. The Sharks’ defense isn’t the strongest, and at this point it is unknown who the starting six defensemen will be, but they do have a lot of youth coming up the pipeline, as well as some younger assets already on the blue line.
If Blackwood can have a good year and continue to develop with this group, this could be a great signing. Taking a risk on a young goaltender that has shown flashes of success already is always worth a shot, and while the two franchises are in very different positions, this could work out like Ilya Samsonov and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Sharks still have Kappo Kahkonen under contract and have the potential of having a great tandem if all things go well. There is a lot of risk in running these two as your go-to duo, but at the end of the day, I don’t think San Jose is looking to hunt for a playoff spot yet and wouldn’t mind another high pick in the 2024 Draft if that is how it plays out.
