How Does Mackenzie Blackwood’s Contract Stack Up Against the Goalie Deals That Followed? (+)

As offense continues to shine in the NHL, goaltender contracts have evolved to a place where only the best of the best land big deals.

The level of Igor Shesterkin, Connor Hellebuyck, Ilya Sorokin, Jake Oettinger, Thatcher Demko and other upper echelon goalies are making $8 million+ per season. Everyone else, the B tier of starters, is settling in at a lower rate.

When the Avs acquired Mackenzie Blackwood last December — a goaltender they had been targeting for years — they wanted to solidy a positon that, even throughout their golden era, has never had consistency. Semyon Varlamov and Jonathan Bernier were the tandem to start the playoff run in 2018, but then Philipp Grubauer took over before a one-year stint with Darcy Kuemper led to a Stanley Cup. Just over two years of Alexandar Georgiev followed before Blackwood’s midseason arrival.

And two weeks later, the Avalanche locked him up to a five-year, $5.25 million AAV contract. I spoke to Blackwood at the time and asked him why he rushed into the deal and he said the front office offered him a number he was trying to reach by July. But they offered it seven months earlier.

“So why not sign?” He told me.

Many questioned why Colorado, at the time, would commit to a goalie without much of a consistent track record in both health and play. But the contracts handed out since have proven that the front office was right to gamble on a player with his skill set.

Blackwood finished the year 28-21-6, with a .910 save percentage, and four shutouts. With the Avs, he was 22-12-3, .913 save percentage, and three shutouts.

Here are all the goalie deals handed out since Blackwood signed in late December, and how those netminders compare to Colorado’s new long-term starter.