New Jersey Devils: 5 Predictions For Second Half Of Season

Mackenzie Blackwood Gets Back In Elite Conversation

Mackenzie Blackwood hasn’t exactly been drawing confidence for Devils fans this season. He isn’t exactly failing like Carter Hart, but his -4.39 goals saved above average is not good. To compare, Scott Wedgewood has a +4.93 GSAA. Wedgewood has been much better than Blackwood when looking at the season as a whole.

Still, Blackwood is clearly the starter now and moving forward. He said he had trouble recovering from his COVID diagnosis. The team was falling flat in front of him. Blackwood had an .838 save percentage on the penalty kill. If anyone watched the Devils penalty kill for a long time, you would know most of those weren’t his fault. The PK is playing much better, and Blackwood is bailing them out much more often.

Blackwood is going to scratch and crawl his way back into the elite goaltender conversation. It’s going to take a while, but he is playing well and his numbers will continue to improve. He’s had great second halves to the season for the past two seasons. This season, Blackwood’s save percentage ranks 31st among goalies with 10 starts. However, he just needs to improve it by 12 points to jump all the way to the top tens.

Blackwood has to be the man to change the narrative around him. The defense isn’t going to get better. In fact, the Devils are probably going to trade half the starting defense. They will be left with players like Will Butcher and Matt Tennyson taking reps. They might get someone like a Dakota Mermis in a trade deadline trade. Still, Blackwood has to carry this team as best he can, and he will get himself back into that top Canadian goaltender conversation.