Season Preview: Blackwood Aims to Be the Avalanche’s Backbone in Goal

Training camp starts in two weeks and the regular season begins in just over a month. The Avalanche are already holding informal skates at Family Sports as players continue to trickle into town for the upcoming season. We’re that close to 2025-26.

In my first season preview, I covered Jack Drury and the opportunity he has ahead of him.

It’s no different from the opportunity Mackenzie Blackwood had last December as soon as he was acquired. And once that he made sure to grab a hold of.

Colorado’s No. 1 netminder was acquired from San Jose via trade and signed a five-year extension just a couple of weeks later. Now, at the age of 28 — which is right around when goalies often break out — he’s entering the first of a five-year deal paying him $5.25 million per season.

Blackwood’s season with the Avs was sort of a tale of two goalies. He stormed out of the gate with a .938 save percentage in his first 12 games, but that was followed up with a .901 in the last 25. Albeit the games at the end of the season had a lot of players resting for the postseason.

READ MORE: Season Preview: Jack Drury Has Opportunity to Solidify Key Avalanche Role

But despite the drop-off, Blackwood was still a key piece last season and is primed for a big year with the Avs. He spent years dealing with injuries before reviving his career behind a lottery team in San Jose.

In 2025-26, Blackwood has an opportunity to finally be the guy he’s always had the potential to be.

He can be a top-1o goalie in the league, a staple in the crease for a Stanley Cup contender, perhaps even a goalie for Team Canada at the Winter Olympics. He has that potential to win Stanley Cups and cement himself as one of the best of his generation.

But all of those goals start and end with him being healthy.

Blackwood had a full season without an injury last year, but that hasn’t always been the case. Injuries are a big part of what spelled his end in New Jersey. I’ve never met a goalie built quite like Blackwood. His upper body size and strength are quite the opposite of the slender build most goaltenders have nowadays. Perhaps that, mixed with his athleticism and maneuverability was part of what led to so many injuries.

It did seem like he was more comfortable in his body last year. I didn’t cover his first years in New Jersey and San Jose but my colleague Corey Masisak at The Denver Post often talks about how different Blackwood is on and off the ice compared to five years ago.

Having Blackwood and backup goalie Scott Wedgewood is a massive boost for a team that has had far too many goalie questions since 2020.

If health is on his side, and Blackwood can put up a consistent .910 save percentage, it’ll give the Avs everything they need to challenge for the Central Division title and an opportunity to host a wildcard team in the first round of the playoffs. Something they should focus their efforts on this year.

Pencil in Blackwood for 55–58 starts, and Wedgewood for the rest, and you’ll likely have the best goalie tandem since the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup. They could even end the season with better numbers than Darcy Kuemper and Pavel Francouz had that year.