Tom Fitzgerald had a problem in 2023. His starting goaltender could not stay healthy. During the season, Mackenzie Blackwood had lost his job to Vitek Vanecek, and when he finally got back healthy, he wasn't very good. He finished the season with an .893 save percentage, coming one year after he had an .892 save percentage.
When it came time to put together their playoff roster, Blackwood was left off entirely. Vanecek was made the starting goalie, and rookie Akira Schmid was named the backup. Schmid was incredible during the 22-23 season, putting up a .922 save percentage over 18 regular season games. He was even better in the playoffs, shutting out the New York Rangers in Game 7 to give the Devils their first series win since beating the Rangers in 2012 on their way to the Stanley Cup Final.
That offseason, it seemed pretty obvious what the Devils were going to do. Blackwood was a restricted free agent, and there wasn't a spot for him on the NHL roster. Many thought the Devils might just release him from the team entirely, allowing him to be an unrestricted free agent, but the Devils instead traded him for a sixth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks.
The trade made sense for everyone involved. The Sharks were really bad, and they could take a chance on a 26-year-old goalie who had success in his past. He was a goalie with a pedigree who had one major issue: he couldn't stay healthy.
Blackwood joined the Devils in 2019. In his five seasons in New Jersey, Blackwood had three upper-body injuries and five lower-body injuries. He played more than 35 games once in those five years, and the injuries clearly took a toll.
There were other controversies and situation that caused many to sour on Blackwood, but the real reason for the issues were his injuries. He could not stay on the ice, and it legitimately looked like he was cooked when the Devils traded him for a late-round pick.
In San Jose, Blackwood looked better, but he wasn't great. He had an .899 save percentage last season, but he did play 44 games and only had one groin injury to reference. This season, Blackwood finally hit that peak we saw way back in 2019. He had a .911 save percentage with the San Jose Sharks, who turned that run into goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, rookie forward Nikolai Kovalenko, a 2025 fifth-round pick, and a 2026 second-round pick.
Blackwood has been incredible with Colorado, helping this talented team build its standings position. He's solidified the stance in net, and now with Team Canada struggling in the 4 Nations Face-Off with Jordan Binnington in net, many are wondering why he's not the starter, let alone invited at all. He has a .922 save percentage in 22 games with Colorado, and he's a legit Vezina Trophy candidate.
But would Mackenzie Blackwood have ever done this with the New Jersey Devils?
It's possible that Blackwood would have been decent in New Jersey eventually, but the rope was just so short for him. The Devils wanted to come into the season with Vanecek and Schmid last season, even though they were reportedly in the Connor Hellebuyck conversation before he re-signed there. Last season, the opportunity would have been there. Vanecek had an .895 save percentage in October last season and .867 in November. Schmid only got three starts in October. He was better in November, but he fell off pretty quickly after that.
If the Devils went with three goalies in 2023-24, which they should have after not getting a superstar at the position, it might have saved their season. Blackwood finished last season with a 2.4 goals saved above average according to Money Puck. If you replaced every Vitek Vanecek start with a Mackenzie Blackwood start, the Devils would have allowed 13 fewer goals. That would have changed the Devils season-long goal differential from -19 to just -6. It's still a minus, but the Islanders made the playoffs with a -19 goal differential and the Washington Capitals were -37.
At this point, we do think Blackwood would have become this in New Jersey. The only reasons he wouldn't have would have been overcoming the mental issues that come from staying in a place where it hasn't worked, but that was never really what hurt Blackwood. He just needed to be healthy and have an opportunity when he came back.
If he could play savior to the 23-24 Devils again, the fanbase and the coaching staff would have welcomed him with open arms. He could have come in and shown that what the Devils once thought about Blackwood was true. There's no reason to cry over spilled milk. We love Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen in net. It's just an interesting conversation to have now that Blackwood has found his game.