Mackenzie Blackwood

The New Jersey Devils are a little worried about their goalie of the future. Mackenzie Blackwood had a really tough two years after a really promising start to his career. There are examples of players who turned things around and turned into superstars. If only the New Jersey Devils had...

Blackwood stopped 30 of 34 shots in Friday's 5-3 loss to the Red Wings. New Jersey fought back from three separate one-goal deficits in the season finale, but Pius Suter broke a 3-3 tie with less than 10 minutes left and Tyler Bertuzzi sealed the win for the Red Wings with an empty-netter. Blackwood went winless in two starts after returning from a heel injury and finishes the season with a 9-10-4 record, 3.39 GAA and .892 save percentage.

Blackwood is the expected starter for Friday's season finale against the Red Wings. Blackwood will be making just his second appearance since Jan. 19. He allowed five goals on 34 shots in an overtime loss to Ottawa on Tuesday in his return from a heel injury, bringing his season record to 9-9-4 with a 3.36 GAA and .892 save percentage.

Blackwood (heel) allowed five goals on 34 shots in Tuesday's 5-4 overtime loss to Ottawa. Blackwood understandably looked a little rusty in his first action since Jan. 19. Thomas Chabot's power-play marker in the final minute of the first period opened the scoring, and Ottawa added two goals apiece from Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson against Blackwood. Coach Lindy Ruff had previously announced that the plan was to play Blackwood on Tuesday and Friday this week, and with no sign of a physical setback in this one, the 25-year-old netminder should defend the cage for Friday's season finale against the Red Wings after yielding the crease for Thursday's penultimate game in Carolina.

Blackwood (heel) has been officially removed from injured reserve ahead of his start versus Ottawa on the road Tuesday, per the NHL media site. The team had already confirmed Blackwood would get the starting nod, so his activation off injured reserve was merely a formality. With a back-to-back versus the Hurricanes and Red Wings on Thursday and Friday, respectively, the 25-year-old netminder should get at least one more start to finish out the year.

Blackwood (heel) is expected to start Tuesday's game against the Senators, per coach Lindy Ruff. Ruff added that the plan is for Blackwood to play Friday against the Red Wings as well. Blackwood has been on injured reserve with a heel injury since Jan. 19 and will need to be removed from IR before he can suit up.

The New Jersey Devils need a goalie. The team has received an .883 save percentage this season, better than only the Seattle Kraken’s .881. Currently, they’re rolling with a tandem of Andrew Hammond and Jon Gillies that have 94 NHL games between them, despite being 34 and 28 years old respectively. Earlier this month, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet put it clearly on the 32 Thoughts podcast:

The New Jersey Devils have been incredibly unlucky with injuries this year, and players coming back have backfired multiple times. However, there are many reasons why the situation is different with Mackenzie Blackwood. Right now, the New Jersey Devils have multiple players who are on injured reserve and will miss...

Blackwood (heel) will participate in morning skate Tuesday, Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site reports. It will be Blackwood's first time on the ice with his team since his last game Jan. 19 against Arizona. It's unclear if the Devils expect him to be ready for Tuesday's tilt with the Coyotes, but the 25-year-old is clearly nearing a return. He's missed the last 34 games.

Blackwood (heel) has begun skating, Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site reports. Blackwood has missed the last 27 games but it appears that he's making progress towards a return. The 25-year-old netminder will still need some time at practice before he's ready for game action. He's 9-9-3 with an .894 save percentage through 23 appearances this season.

There were whispers that New Jersey Devils starting goalie (when he’s healthy) Mackenzie Blackwood might be available. At first, it didn’t make a lot of sense. Blackwood is the Devils best chance at ever competing in the near future, and he’s about to enter his prime. He’s not making a ton of money (he’s making $2.8 million this season and next). It just didn’t make a lot of sense from multiple fronts.

The New Jersey Devils announced on Tuesday that they were shutting down starting goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood. He’s been dealing with a heel injury this entire season. This likely would have happened sooner, but the Devils also lost their other starting goalie Jonathan Bernier to a hip injury. The Devils are now down their two starters, and the plan right now is to go with Jon Gillies and Akira Schmid.

Blackwood was placed on injured reserve Tuesday with a heel injury. Blackwood missed the first month of the season with a heel injury that appears to have flared up again. Since Blackwood hasn't played since Jan. 19 versus Arizona, he technically will only have to miss Tuesday's matchup with Dallas before he could be activated off IR. Still, fantasy players should probably be expecting the netminder to miss some time, which will likely force Jon Gillies into the starting role with Jonathan Bernier (hip) already done for the season.

The New Jersey Devils have played pretty good hockey so far in 2022, to the point where it was masking a lot of the issues that still plagued the team. A lot of those issues, however, resurfaced in last night’s ugly, ugly loss to the Arizona Coyotes. Particularly concerning was yet another bad performance from starting goalie MacKenzie Blackwood, who allowed four goals on just 17 shots. I spent a little time a couple of weeks ago pondering if the Devils should go out and get another goaltender to aid/compete with Blackwood, and while I settled on yes at that time, I was not ready to write Blackwood off.

Blackwood is set to be between the pipes at home versus Arizona on Wednesday, per NHL.com. Since the start of December, Blackwood has appeared in 13 of the club's 17 outings in which he posted a 5-6-1 record and 3.50 GAA. The netminder figures to carry the load for the Devils moving forward but may still struggle to rack up wins given the challenging Metropolitan Division. As such, Blackwood is unlikely to offer much more than mid-range fantasy value.

Blackwood made 13 saves on 17 shots in a 4-1 loss to the Coyotes on Wednesday. Blackwood missed the previous game under COVID-19 protocols and had a hard time stopping a low-powered Arizona offense Wednesday. The 25-year-old netminder has allowed three or more goals in all but one of his last 10 starts, compiling a 4-6-0 record over that span.

Blackwood departed the NHL's COVID-19 protocols Monday. Blackwood has gone 9-8-3 with a 3.24 GAA and an .898 save percentage over 22 appearances this season. He was ineligible to participate in last Thursday's game against the Islanders due to the protocols. Prior to that, he started six consecutive games, going 4-2-0 with a 3.48 GAA and an .889 save percentage. He could return to the net as soon as Wednesday's contest against Arizona.

The Devils placed Blackwood in COVID-19 protocols Wednesday. Blackwood's status had been unclear after inconclusive test results Tuesday and he does indeed have COVID-19. The goalie will likely only miss Thursday's game while he recovers from the virus. Jon Gillies figures to be the primary netminder during Blackwood's absence.

Blackwood received inconclusive COVID-19 test results Tuesday, per Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site. Blackwood's COVID-19 tests were resubmitted to acquire conclusive results. His status for Thursday's contest with the Islanders is questionable until the definite results return Tuesday. The 25-year-old has posted an 9-8-3 record with a 3.24 GAA and a .898 save percentage this season.