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Thoughts on Vegas / Free Agency: RFAs - Mackenzie Blackwood |
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Thoughts on Vegas / Free Agency: RFAs - Mackenzie Blackwood
Good morning everyone! Hope all is well with you as we start to wrap up this week. First, congratulations to the Vegas Golden Knights for winning their first Stanley Cup. They soundly defeated Florida 9-3 Tuesday night to clinch the series 4-1. They became the fastest team to win the cup in the modern era with six seasons, topping the ‘74 Philadelphia Flyers who won their first in their 7th year. Reilly Smith scored the series winning goal while Jonathan Marchessault earned the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP. Credit should also be due to the incredibly strong goaltending of Adin Hill, the deep offenses of Eichel/Karlsson/Stone/Barbashev, and the overall team makeup and system. Bruce Cassidy has etched his name on the cup, something he came close to with Boston a few years back. Credit to Florida for making it this far, defeating many higher ranked teams including and winning their first Stanley Cup game.
Here’s an update on our possible RFA situation and cap so far with suggestions:
Offense:
Nathan Bastian - Resigned $1.3M (could be 1-3 years, up to Bastian/Devils)
Jesper Boqvist - Resigned $1.5M (1-2 year prove it deal)
Jesper Bratt - Resigned $7.5M (Assuming a trade doesn’t come along that we like)
Michael McCleod - Resigned $1.75M
Timo Meier - Resigned $8.5M
Yegor Sharangovich - Part of a trade package
Defense:
Kevin Bahl - Resigned $1.5M for 2-3 years
Goaltending:
MacKenzie Blackwood
Leftover Cap - $12,532,500
Our final RFA to discuss is:
Mackenzie Blackwood
Fun Fact: Mackenzie Blackwood was only the 2nd goalie taken in his draft after Ilya Samsonov. Pretty good for a player that joined youth hockey and picked his position relatively later than most of his Canadian counterparts, starting play at 9 and becoming a goalie at 12 following an injury to his youth hockey teammate in net.
Player Profile and Season Storyline:
Drafted 42nd in the 2015 Entry Draft, Mackenzie Blackwood started his development splitting time between the Devils’ AHL and ECHL affiliates. Following an injury to Cory Schneider, he began his Devils tenure in 2018. At first, he showed an incredible amount of promise with decent rookie stats, back to back shutouts, and league accolades for weekly performances. However, his play and results have dropped steadily since then. Between injuries, behind the scenes issues regarding vaccination, and overall performance mistakes, Blackwood has fallen out of favor with the Devils, being ostensibly replaced by Vanacek and Schmid, with Daws waiting in the wings as well.
Stat Analysis:
This season, Blackwood’s stats have been frankly atrocious. While he posted a winning record behind a stronger team than years past, his GAA and Save Percentage have been 3.20 and .893 respectively, slight improvements over last season but a faraway drop from his rookie season posting of 2.61 and .918. Even using the eye test, he seems to have retrograded with poor decisions, pacing, positioning, and reflexes.
Benefits and Drawbacks for Bringing Back:
Benefits - None. We are starting to have true goalie depth, especially if the Devils make a move this summer with a stronger free agent.
Drawbacks - Inconsistent and lackluster results, constant decrease in performance value
Should we keep him:
Verdict - Trade. This may be the easiest offseason decision Tom Fitzgerald makes. Blackwood fell out of favor from the team and fans long ago. With the emergence of Vanacek and Schmid, his days in a Devils jersey are numbered. If we are to trade him, what should we target? Honestly, I’m ok getting anything for him at this point. If we get a pick between the 5th-6th, I’d be ecstatic. Same goes for if we could flip him for a minor league piece to help the comets. Realistically, we’re probably looking at 7th based on his play as of late.
Possible Trade Packages / Partners:
We should be looking at a team that has multiple late round picks and could use goalie depth. Blackwood may have nose-dived the last few seasons, but there is always a team out there looking to gamble that he pulls up.
My proposal:
NJD Receive:
2023 6th Round Pick (CLB)
2024 Conditional 4th Round Pick (Blackwood has start 55 games with a winning record)
ARI Receive:
Mackenzie Blackwood
2024 Conditional 5th Round Pick (Part of Conditional Swap)
That leaves our cap situation as:
Leftover Cap - $12,532,500
Leave your thoughts or comments below. Raise Hell!
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
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