Three Thoughts on Mackenzie Blackwoods Extension with The Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche decided the small sample size of success from Mackenzie Blackwood was enough to want him to stay long term. They signed the goaltender to a five-year contract extension worth 26.25 million dollars.

Extending Blackwood now is an aggressive and a somewhat surprising move by Colorado. However, Colorado's goaltending before trading for him was shaky to say the least. Let's go over three thoughts I had when seeing the extension news.

1. Was this extension handed out due to desperation or confidence?

Don't get it twisted; Blackwood has been phenomenal in his five games with the Avalanche. He has a .940 save percentage and hasn't allowed more than two goals to go into the net in those starts. He's strong, confident, and can make the big save.

While those minor stats are great, the contract the Avalanche gave him is a pretty steep one. A five year commitment at five plus million dollars is a pretty big risk. Whether Avalanche fans like it or not, Blackwood is going to be the presumed starter for the next five years barring something unforeseen.

With the extension coming just under three weeks after the trade, the Avalanche obviously saw something in Blackwood they liked. Time will tell if they were right or not.

2. The Avalanche saw an opportunity and pounced on it

Finding a starting goaltender in the NHL is hard to do. What seemed to have happened here was the Avalanche saw how good Blackwood was doing and had to make sure he stayed. If he hit the open market playing like he is now, he easily could've put himself among the league's top paid goaltenders.

The Avalanche showed Blackwood they have the confidence in him and now he has to show them he's worth it.

3. Georgiev really was that bad

Alexandar Georgiev was one of the worst goaltenders in the NHL before being traded to San Jose for Blackwood. He was so bad, the nickname "Fourgiev" was given to him this season. Fans gave him this nickname to highlight the number of games he gave up four plus goals, which is brutal.

While the Avalanche would never come out publicly and say how bad Georgiev was, their actions here shows it all. You don't see a team trade a goaltender who was struggling as much as Georgiev was and then sign the guy he was traded for to a five year extension not even three weeks later. An extension that soon after a trade just does not happen.