New Jersey Devils: 3 Goalies That Give Us Hope With Mackenzie Blackwood
The New Jersey Devils are a little worried about their goalie of the future. Mackenzie Blackwood had a really tough two years after a really promising start to his career. There are examples of players who turned things around and turned into superstars.
If only the New Jersey Devils had a goalie. That’s what fans have been saying all season, right? The Devils have been desperate for someone between the pipes to stop the puck. This season, they had seven players actually play minutes. They also had an EBUG, who at least would have been fun to get some time.
In general, the goalie situation ruined the year. Jonathan Bernier hurt his hip and needed season-ending surgery. His career isn’t exactly in jeopardy, but it’s a little bit in doubt. The Devils have dealt with major hip injuries before, and we all saw it tear down Cory Schneider‘s career, but maybe Bernier will be different.
Either way, the future of the position for the Devils lies with Mackenzie Blackwood at this juncture. Unless the Devils find a way to get a starter in free agency or on the trade market, the team’s success lies broadly on Blackwood’s shoulders.
It’s a scary place for Devils fans. He hasn’t been good even when he was on the ice. Is that because he was injured? Did the heel injury cause him to lose his confidence? What about the rumors about a fallout with the team? That could really get in the head of any player. For a goalie, they need to have supreme confidence in their game. If they don’t, it’s going to go badly 100% of the time.
However, we’ve seen this before. Goalies have been in the gutter, but they’ve pulled themselves out of it and turned into star goalies. We found three examples of current goalies who found their footing and turned into really good options.
Jacob Markstrom
Jacob Markstrom has had an interesting career that led to a really good contract with the Calgary Flames. He started his career with incredibly high hopes with the Florida Panthers, but he could just never get it together. He tanked in 2013-14, his last year with the Panthers. He had a .874 save percentage, and he won just one of his 12 games that season.
Then, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks as part of the Roberto Luongo trade. He spent two years finding his game again, spending a lot of time in the AHL. Then, he started to get more and more of the starting reps. His save percentage skyrocketed, and he was the full-time starter by 2017.
Do the Devils have the time to wait for Blackwood like the Canucks did with Markstrom? Not really. Markstrom didn’t show how good he was until he was 28 years old. Blackwood is 25 years old. Also, Markstrom needed to go to another team to show what he was worth. Honestly, it’s getting close to a similar situation with Blackwood.
The situation isn’t completely lost, but seeing Markstrom turn into a Vezina candidate after such a tumultuous start to his career should give us hope. Hopefully, Blackwood can also learn from it.
Thatcher Demko
This one makes a lot of sense because of the time in which Thatcher Demko was “bad” and his ability to immediately bounce back into one of the better netminders in the league. This is the ideal future for Blackwood. In Devils fans’ minds, if they can get a Demko-type performance in net, they will be contenders in no time.
However, in the 2019-20 season, Demko had some serious question marks. He had an amazing first stint with the Canucks in 2019. He had a .913 save percentage in his first nine games. Then, when he was given the true backup job the next season, he had a .905 save percentage in 27 games. Obviously, this wasn’t the dropoff we’ve seen with Blackwood, but many thought that Demko was showing more cracks in his armor.
He immediately jumped back into elite status when he took the starting role the next season. He’s had a .915 save percentage for two seasons in a row. He had the second-best goals saved above average according to Natural Stat Trick in the entire league. Blackwood was eighth-worst in the league this past season. Two seasons ago, Demko was the 13th worst in the league.
This just shows it can turn around quickly. Demko is just a little older than Blackwood, so the age range is about right. They both deal with similar issues (defensive miscues, a high-speed offense), but Demko has proven himself in these systems. Blackwood could if the Devils decide against moving on.
Frederik Andersen
Frederik Andersen is a little older than the others on the list, so this one might hit a little hollow, but we still think it’s a good example for Blackwood to follow. Andersen was amazing in Anaheim before he was traded to Toronto. There, he was really good for a few years before the wheels fell off.
That’s where Blackwood is now, too. He’s coming off two bad seasons, and he’s hoping to bounce back. Blackwood doesn’t have close to the track record that Andersen does. He doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt. Andersen did with the Carolina Hurricanes, and he put forth a Vezina-worthy performance (although it was always going to Igor Shesterkin).
This past season, Andersen put up a .922 save percentage behind a stellar Hurricanes defense. It was the best of his career outside of his rookie season. He was someone who really helped the Canes win the Metropolitan Division. He’s currently trying to work his way back into the Rangers series to get the Hurricanes to the Eastern Conference Finals.
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Andersen is 32 years old. He’s in a much different place in his career than Blackwood. He’s established himself as a brand name. While he’s never been Carey Price or Andrei Vasilevskiy per se, he has been really good for a long time. Blackwood hopes to get to a place where he’s as good as Andersen. Not the Andersen of his Toronto twilight, but the Andersen of now would be a great version of Blackwood.