New Jersey Devils: Could Mackenzie Blackwood Get Into Calder Trophy Contention?
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils have Jack Hughes as their obvious Calder Trophy contender, but a less obvious contender is goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood.
Right now, there’s a very good race to win the Calder Trophy as we approach the midway point of the NHL season. Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes are going shot for shot on the way to 2020. Makar was running away with the award, but then he got hurt. That gave the Vancouver Canucks rookie blueliner a chance to close the gap. When thinking about a New Jersey Devils rookie who could be up for the Calder Trophy, we think of Quinn’s brother Jack Hughes. However, the one we probably should be looking at is Mackenzie Blackwood.
Blackwood isn’t getting a lot of love from anyone for multiple reasons. The main reason is he’s probably not even considered a rookie to some. He played 23 games last season, which for a backup goalie is basically close to a full season.
The other issue is the Devils have been awful. A goalie is not going to get a lot of love when the team he’s playing behind has 13 wins going into the New Year. That does not help his case, but he has four wins in his last six starts. The Devils are playing much better after the Taylor Hall trade. If Blackwood could put together a lot more wins, then he could change how he’s considered across the league.
Blackwood would have to get his stats up if he was going to even be considered. If he could get his season-long numbers closer to his December numbers, then the voters would have to consider him. He’s got a .923 save percentage and a 5-3-2 record since the start of the month. He’s definitely getting better as the season goes on. If he has an awesome month in him, say a .940 save percentage, it could really propel him in the conversation.
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He’s very far behind right now, with even names like Ethan Bear and John Marino ahead of Blackwood. Jack Hughes is probably going to get more votes than Blackwood if the vote happens today. Kaapo Kakko is probably getting considered more, even though he really shouldn’t.
The thing that’s really working in Blackwood’s favor is he’s just about the only rookie goalie that’s a starter. Ilya Samsonov has been really good for the Washington Capitals, but Braden Holtby is still going to get the majority of the starts. Kaapo Kahkonen has been exceptional for the Minnesota Wild, but it’s in a super small sample size and he hasn’t taken the job from Devan Dubnyk.
Blackwood has some serious work to do to get back into Calder consideration. He needs to be dominant, or at least beyond competent on what becomes a winning team. It’s not impossible, but he has some work to do.