New Jersey Devils Three Headed Goalie Monster of Sub-Mediocrity
By Ed Stein
MacKenzie Blackwood
He’s the rookie wildcard this year.
The New Jersey Devils thought enough of MacKenzie Blackwood to select him in the second round of the 2015 draft with the 42nd overall pick from the OHL’s Barrie Colts. He worked his way through the system like all young goalies.
More from New Jersey Devils
- New Jersey Devils: Who should play right wing on the reloaded power play?
- New Jersey Devils Top-10 prospects under 24
- New York Rangers or New Jersey Devils: Who had the better offseason?
- New Jersey Devils: Does Gusev trade signal the end for Zacha?
- New Jersey Devils: Cory Schneider faces a make or break season
Quite frankly it was a bit of a surprise Devils head coach John Hynes turned to Blackwood after the miserable 2017-18 he had. At Binghamton, he was 7-17-6 with a 3.41 GAA, and .882 SV%. Those aren’t promotion worthy numbers. Most players would be lucky to have a job in the AHL after a performance like that.
Due to injuries, New Jersey used four different goalies last season and Blackwood wasn’t one of them. At times they were desperate, but the Thunder Bay, Ontario native was never called up. He certainly changed some minds this year with his improvement early on.
Recalled in mid-December, Blackwood came out of the gates on fire. After a rough first outing in relief of Kinkaid December 18, he settled down. Blackwood allowed only four goals over his next five starts, including back-to-back shutouts to close the month.
Since then he hasn’t been as sharp. In the five full games Blackwood started in January, he surrendered 18 goals (he played 16 minutes in another start before leaving with an injury). That’s roughly a 3.6-ish GAA. It seems as though the league started to figure him out. After winning his lone February start, Blackwood was sent back to Binghamton, when Schneider returned from his latest injury.
Next. EWB Power Rankings: New York Islanders, Brooklyn Nets, NYCFC take top spots. dark
The New Jersey Devils are building a solid young core of players, led by Nico Hischier. In order to become a legitimate playoff threat, they must get consistent play between the pipes.