Many believe Cory Schneider has returned to his old form following an incredibly strong preseason. While this is awesome to see as New Jersey Devils’ fans, what does it mean for Mackenzie Blackwood?
The New Jersey Devils goaltending was originally believed to be an issue by man analysts, with many expecting the tandem of Mackenzie Blackwood and Cory Schneider to fall flat even with the team in front of them receiving major upgrades. While nothing is guaranteed, it is a promising sign to see a goaltender receiving $6M AAV over the next three seasons playing lights out hockey through 4 preseason games, and finishing with an insane .951 save percentage.
It is also important because last season Schneider was not able to play in the preseason following his recovery from hip surgery. This hot streak has brought back the starting goalie the Devils traded for back in 2013, who has a career save percentage of .919. With the start of the season on Friday, expect the Devils to start the hot hand for the start of the season. With Schneider and Blackwood originally expected to split games this season, Schneider’s elevated play will likely impact Blackwood in one of two ways.
If Blackwood is a goalie who enjoys facing internal competition, then there is a good chance he may elevate his play to remain on par with Schneider. As a young goalie with only a partial season under his belt, it may be beneficial to play beside and train with a strong veteran goalie. Having that lead presence may inspire a competitive element within Blackwood.
Blackwood played three preseason game and finished with a .912SV% which is considerably lower than Schneider, but a good showing nonetheless. His first regular season start may provide enough evidence for the Devils coaching staff to elect for the goalies to have a more even split.
An example of a team that possess a young goalie benefiting from internal competition is the Nashville Predators with Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros. While the split is not as much down the middle, with Rinne starting 55 and Saros starting 27 games, both goalies managed to put up a .918SV%. This allows their team not to worry about the goaltending, they know whoever is starting will give them a more than fair shot to win.
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For the Devils, this means that even if Schneider plays more games through the season than Blackwood, if Blackwood is able to elevate his play the Devils will have an elite goalie tandem. Devils fans have seen the play both of these goalies are capable of and both of them playing their best hockey would take a lot of pressure off the rest of the team.
Should Blackwood not elevate his level to compete with Schneider, he may fall back into a backup role. This may not be an issue for this season, but it may be important in the long run for a young goalie’s development.
A prime example of the potential negative effects of having a young goalie playing back up can be found in the Columbus Blue Jackets. Looking at the former tandem of Sergei Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo. They had a veteran goaltender starting with a young backup. During Bobrovsky’s weakest season with Columbus, 2015-16, is when Columbus turned to Korpisalo to perform. During that season, in 31 games Korpisalo put up a .920SV% while Bobrovsky put up a .908SV% through 37 starts. This led to the Blue Jackets running with both goalies, believing they had an elite goalie combo.
As soon as Korpisalo was put in the backup role, his performance started to slip, even failing to put up a .900SV% over the last two seasons. Now with Bobrovsky gone the Jackets look for Korpisalo to step into a larger role, which is difficult following 4 important development years being spent on the bench. There is no guarantee that a lesser role can impact a goalie’s development but seeing less ice time is never a good thing for development. This is similar to the Boqvist and Smith predicament, you don’t want your top prospects to make the team just to become healthy scratches every game.
Don’t get the message in this article wrong, there is absolutely no issue with Schneider playing elite hockey. This is just to point out the ball is now in Blackwood’s court to step up and provide that internal competition. At the end of the day, Schneider demonstrating he still has a lot of hockey left in him only benefits the team.
While it may take games away from Blackwood, it will increase Schneider’s trade stock, Hall’s confidence in the team, and help drive the Devils back to the playoffs. There are very few things in hockey more important and harder to find than strong goaltending, if the Devils can present the 1-2 punch they seem to have right now, they will be in good company all season long.