SAN JOSE – Mackenzie Blackwood was acquired by the San Jose Sharks from the New Jersey Devils in June 2023 for a sixth-round choose in that yr’s draft. It was unclear at that time how a lot the Sharks would get out of Blackwood, who struggled with accidents through the latter phases of his Devils tenure.
However given how effectively he knew Blackwood, Sharks common supervisor Mike Grier had religion the 6-foot-4 goaltender may keep wholesome and switch his profession round. Working with Evgeni Nabokov and Thomas Speer, Blackwood would later develop into the Sharks’ No. 1 goalie, posting stable numbers for a crew within the nascent phases of a rebuild.
Monday, Grier despatched Blackwood, ahead Givani Smith, and a 2027 fifth-round choose to the Colorado Avalanche for goalie Alexandar Georgiev, winger Nikolai Kovalenko, the Avalanche’s 2026 second-round choice, and a conditional fifth-round draft choice in 2025.
It was a tidy bit of labor for Grier, who as soon as once more turned a minimal funding into a much bigger payoff.
Grier’s made some blockbusters, such because the Erik Karlsson and Timo Meier trades which have aged effectively. However in June, he picked up defenseman Jake Walman and a 2024 second-rounder from Detroit for nothing, and two months later, he additionally acquired defenseman Cody Ceci from Edmonton for waiver declare Ty Emberson.
Ahead Klim Kostin, who has been enjoying on the Sharks’ third line of late, was acquired in March from the Purple Wings for defenseman Radim Simek, who didn’t play a recreation for Detroit and is now within the Czech League.
Whereas Walman is signed by way of subsequent season, Ceci, a pending UFA, figures to be traded for a future asset earlier than the March 7 deadline. Kostin’s future is unsure, as he’s a pending restricted free agent.
Grier seemingly didn’t intend to maintain Blackwood previous the two-year contract he signed him to shortly after bringing him from the Backyard State.
Blackwood turned 28 on Monday, and whereas nonetheless within the prime of his profession, signing him to an extension didn’t make a lot sense for the Sharks, provided that they seem like at the least a pair extra years away from being professional playoff contenders.
The Sharks may have held onto Blackwood somewhat longer, maybe getting different groups and driving up the value tag. Nevertheless, the goalie market on the deadline could be fickle, and if Blackwood will get injured, that would have an effect on his worth. Colorado wanted a goalie with No. 1 potential, so the deal was consummated.
All instructed, buying and selling a sixth-rounder for what would develop into a second-rounder, a conditional fifth-round choose, and a participant in Kovalenko who may stick round for some time is a fairly good return for a pending UFA.
Let’s begin with what the Sharks obtained again from the Avalanche.
Given the Avalanche’s current historical past of success, the 2026 second-rounder figures to be within the fiftieth to sixtieth total vary. Extra draft capital is probably going coming, with the Sharks nonetheless holding onto 5 different pending UFAs apart from Ceci.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Kovalenko is an intriguing participant. With eight factors in 28 video games this season, the 25-year-old is maybe not an offensive dynamo in hiding. However he ought to get extra of a possibility with the Sharks than with the Avalanche, with whom he averaged simply 12 minutes per recreation.
Kovalenko, with a cap hit of $896,250, may slot into the Sharks’ top-nine or middle-six immediately as San Jose faces the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday on the Lenovo Heart. By the way, Kovalenko was born in Raleigh, N.C., in October 1999, when his dad, Andrei Kovalenko, was starting his second and ultimate season with the Hurricanes.
Whether or not Kovalenko can play greater than a depth function in San Jose will seemingly rely upon how exhausting he competes, how effectively he can maintain the puck, and whether or not he can earn the belief of coach Ryan Warsofsky. Bringing some snarl wouldn’t be discouraged, both.
If Kovalenko can do these issues whereas chipping in some badly wanted scoring, then the Sharks most likely have somebody they’ll wish to preserve round. Kovalenko is about to develop into a restricted free agent this summer season.
However Georgiev is a reclamation mission, little question about it.
Georgiev put up largely stable numbers in his first five-plus NHL seasons, going 179-98-64 with a .912 save proportion from 2018 to 2023. It’s the final two seasons which were a battle, as he’s had a mediocre .892 save proportion with lower than half of his 81 begins in that point thought of high quality begins.
“I think in Georgiev’s case, he’s shown that he can be a good goaltender in this league, as evidenced by his win total the last few years, and certainly in his postseason play last year,” Avalanche common supervisor Chris MacFarland instructed reporters Monday. “Stats are stats. We were aware of our early season goaltending struggles. … We felt we needed an upgrade a few weeks ago and started kicking tires.”
Let’s not child one another: The Sharks’ report may actually begin to nosedive with Blackwood now elsewhere. He’s helped preserve the Sharks aggressive in a handful of video games they didn’t belong in, and it’s unclear whether or not Vitek Vanecek and Georgiev can absolutely make up for his absence. Yaroslav Askarov’s time is coming, but it surely doesn’t seem like proper now.
So for now, it’s a matter of whether or not Nabokov and Speer can get Georgiev again on his recreation like they helped Blackwood do the final season-and-a-half. If they’ll, maybe Grier can flip Georgiev and his $2.924 million cap hit for an asset earlier than the March 7 commerce deadline.
It wouldn’t essentially be a shock. In any case, Grier appears to be making a behavior of this.
Initially Printed: December 9, 2024 at 7:54 PM PST
