Let’s take a look at the revamped goaltending tandem for the Avalanche and how they did during the regular season!
Building on the grades I gave for the Colorado Avalanche a little while ago, it’s time to do the same for the goalies! Once again, we’re just going to be looking at the goalies that were with the team after the trade deadline, largely to make my life easier, and we’re just going to be looking at their regular season stats, since we’ve covered playoffs a lot already!
Mackenzie Blackwood (GP: 37, SV%: .913, SO: 3)
To be completely honest, it’s tough to find something to be upset about when it comes to how Mackenzie Blackwood’s regular season as an Avalanche went. He did everything that was asked of him and more for this team when he was traded here, and showed that he’s absolutely a legit NHL-caliber goaltender, especially considering how the goaltending looked before he got to Colorado. Everyone can, of course, have their own opinion, but there wasn’t a game where I was nervous when the puck came his way that I watched throughout the regular season. Like I said at the beginning of this section, it’s tough to find something to be really upset about when looking at his overall stats and performance for the Avs during the regular season, as he did everything that was asked of him and more. For that, I have to give him an A. I can’t wait to see what he looks like next year after getting to find his footing with the team a little bit after being traded here and starting his five-year contract extension.
Scott Wedgewood (GP: 19, SV%: .917, SO: 2)
I feel the same way about Scott Wedgewood that I do about Blackwood. It’s tough to find something to be upset about when it comes to his regular-season performance. He is just such a hard-working, grizzled, veteran goaltender who’s seen a lot of NHL hockey throughout his career thus far, which is, in my opinion, exactly who you want as your backup goaltender. He, like Blackwood, did absolutely everything asked of him and more as their backup goalie this past season. He still has one more year left on his current contract as well, which means Colorado’s goaltending tandem is already set for the 2025-26 NHL season, and that’s one less thing to worry about. For Wedgewood’s regular season, I am also going to give him an A. Again, it’s incredibly tough to find something to be upset about when it comes to how his regular-season performance went.