The Colorado Avalanche should be getting a big reinforcement between the pipes in a few days. The team announced that they’ve loaned netminder Mackenzie Blackwood to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on a conditioning stint. Additionally, the team has activated defenseman Sean Behrens from the season-opening injured reserve and reassigned him to AHL Colorado.
Colorado’s reasoning behind the conditioning stint this early in the campaign is fairly simple. Blackwood is continuing to recover from a procedure performed in May and didn’t participate in any preseason games for the Avalanche or any training camp activities. Since Colorado can leave Blackwood on the conditioning stint for up to 14 days, it’ll be treated as a pseudo training camp to prepare him for the regular season.
Blackwood was phenomenal for the Avalanche last year. After being acquired from the San Jose Sharks, Blackwood took on a heavy workload, managing a 22-12-3 record in 37 games with a .913 SV% and 2.33 GAA. Unfortunately, he couldn’t help Colorado avoid another first-round exit in last year’s playoffs, registering a 3-4-0 record in seven contests with a .892 SV%.
Still, despite being without Blackwood, the Avalanche have gotten stellar goaltending out of the gates this season. Their backup, Scott Wedgewood, has a 2-0-1 record through Colorado’s first three games with a .925 SV% and 1.95 GAA. Even though it’s a small sample size, Wedgewood has already played the most minutes of any netminder this year.
Meanwhile, Behrens will return to competitive hockey for the first time in two years. After winning the National Championship with the University of Denver in 2024, Behrens signed with the Avalanche, skating in one game with the Eagles to finish the year, with one additional appearance in the postseason.
Unfortunately, a knee injury suffered during last year’s training camp cost Behrens the entire 2024-25 season. He appeared in a few games for the Avalanche’s rookie tournament, though his upcoming time with the Eagles will mark his true return to professional hockey.