Aarif Deen
Good goaltending can often mask a team’s issues. In other instances, it elevates an already exceptional roster to new heights. These are both things Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood have done since arriving in Colorado.
Last year, they played well enough for the Avalanche to cover up the many other issues they had. This year, they’re the cherry on top of an already offensively gifted group that plays a complete defensive game and is loaded with superstar talent.
Colorado needed the two goalies in the worst of ways. Especially with how things were going before they were acquired.
“We didn’t feel like our goaltending was good enough at the time. Hence, both trades,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “And I’m not trying to knock the two guys we had because they played some good hockey for us at times, but the start of last year just wasn’t where it needed to be in the league.”
Sunday marks one year since Wedgewood was brought in from the Predators. And as we look back, it’s hard not to point to goaltending as arguably the biggest reason why the Avs, who looked like a shell of their dominant self 12 months ago, have reached new heights.
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“We probably needed a bit of a change there,” superstar center Nathan MacKinnon told me, recalling the two moves Colorado made to swap out its netminders in short order. “It’s great. I mean, you kind of expect them to make all the easy saves. And more.”
Colorado got Wedgewood from Nashville for Justus Annunen and a sixth-round draft pick.
Nine days later, the team traded struggling starter Alexandar Georgiev and other pieces to San Jose for Mackenzie Blackwood.
Since then, the numbers speak for themselves.
The Avalanche boast a record of 54-18-10 in their last 82 games, dating back to the Wedgewood trade. The 54 wins is tops in the league, as is the 118 points.
Defensively, Colorado has given up just 190 goals in that stretch, while scoring 296. Both of those are also the best in the league. The eight shutouts for the Avs also leads the NHL.
These are all categories that improved because of the play of Wedgewood and Blackwood. Even the offense, which has nothing to do with goaltending, can be credited to their presence between the pipes, and the stress it lifts off of the rest of the lineup.
“Good goaltending can help your team play with a bunch of confidence,” Bednar said.
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Wedgewood, 33, came to Colorado with 49 career wins. With the Avs, he is already 26-5-4, boasting a sparkling .919 save percentage and 2.03 goals-against average.
“I think it was an opportunity,” Wedgewood told me at Ball Arena. “Looking from the outside, coming in, with the situation they had, and the conversations around the league that you listen to, it was an opportunity for me to calm things for them.”
Last year, Colorado was 3-2-0 in its previous five games before Wedgewood arrived. They had given up 19 goals in that stretch, but somehow scraped and clawed to win three of them thanks to talents like Cale Makar and MacKinnon.
It’s night and day different from where the team is now. The Avs are 4-0-1 in their last five, and have allowed only four goals. The goalies have combined for three shutouts in that stretch, and the team is still in the midst of a 16-game undefeated streak.
Blackwood, 28, has won his last five starts. Wedgewood lost a shootout in Minnesota on Friday to end his personal eight-game winning streak. The two have alternated starts over the previous six games, and continue to push each other to be better.
“We both understand and respect what the other does,” Wedgewood said. “The pressure, the mindsets, certain situations, pucks that go in, and how they go in. You’re kind of on an island sometimes with trying to talk to somebody about it.”
Added MacKinnon: “Those two guys also love each other, and they work really well with each other, they’re kind of like Ullmark and Swayman a couple years ago in Boston, it seems like.”
MacKinnon then looked towards Blackwood’s stall, where Wedgewood was embracing his teammate for another excellent performance.
“I mean, look at them hugging over there right now. They’re good buddies,” he said.
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This has become a common occurrence after each game. Win or lose, shutout or not, the tandem goaltenders are always talking postgame. Sometimes to themselves, but most of the time, they’re the life of the room. They bring a presence that the team sorely lacked last year.
Especially without Gabe Landeskog back in the lineup yet.
“Both guys are outgoing guys, great personalities, good team mindset,” Bednar said. “The juice, the energy that they have, the outlook they have. It all helps.”
How different is the locker room from a year ago? Just ask the guy who was the first arrival in a series of many trades since then. Wedgewood’s Avalanche career began in relief, in a game where Colorado trailed 4-0 to Buffalo before Georgiev was pulled.
Wedgewood stepped in, without a pre-game warm-up, in front of players he’s never played with, and was perfect the rest of the way. Colorado scored five goals in front of him to win the game in regulation.
“Light years. I think it was even a little bit rough throughout when I first got here, and even before playoffs,” Wedgewood said of the locker room vibe. “It was like, you win a game, but it didn’t feel like you were satisfied in this room. There was a lingering feeling that we should be in a better spot than we are. Even after a win, we didn’t feel satisfied at any point throughout the season.”
The goalie trades weren’t even the most significant moves last season. The Avs suddenly shipped out Mikko Rantanen for Martin Necas and Jack Drury. Later, they added Brock Nelson, Charlie Coyle, and Ryan Lindgren. The latter two are no longer in Colorado.
But Necas, Drury, and Nelson are vital pieces of the new-look No. 1-ranked Avs.
“It was tough to turn the room over. You had different trades and things at different times, and you’re trying to vibe with guys,” Wedgewood said.
Both Wedgewood and Blackwood were here from the start of training camp. Sure, Blackwood was rehabbing an offseason injury, but they both still got to integrate themselves with the roster from the onset.
That matters to players. It matters to the room.
“When you get to start in training camp with the group, you get to create memories, create little niches of things we do after wins and things that happen to guys throughout the year that last all year as jokes,” Wedgewood said. “Landy comes back, big presence, then he opens his house up and runs a team party. These things may not show up on the ice, but they show up throughout the year. It’s how you build a team and build a culture.”
Wedgewood played with Blackwood before. The two were teammates in New Jersey on two occasions. First in 2016, then again in 2021. Blackwood stayed with the Devils the entire time, fighting injuries and inconsistencies before eventually landing in San Jose.
Meanwhile, Wedgewood made stops in Arizona and the AHL before returning to New Jersey. He then went back to Arizona, then to Dallas, and finally to Nashville.
In one year with Colorado, Wedgewood has earned himself another $2.5 million contract extension, as well as a spot on Team Canada’s long list as the Winter Olympics rosters get closer to being announced.
As for Blackwood, he’s 27-12-4 with the Avs, recording five shutouts and a .915 save percentage. Blackwood even signed a five-year extension worth $26.25 million less than three weeks after being acquired.
“It’s been nice to see him grow as a human. I think he’s seen me grow,” Wedgewood said. “We’re both in a good spot and cheering each other on. Regardless of time on the ice right now, he’s been hot when we need him. I’ve been hot when he was hurt.”
Both guys had a lot happen to get to this point. They worked for it.
Now they’re working together again with a team that has hopes to win the Stanley Cup.
“It doesn’t work when you’re playing against each other, hoping the other guy fails so you can win. Like that never goes well,” Wedgewood said. “We’ve proven a good relationship can really push that friendly competition a little bit further.”