Sharks trade Blackwood to Avs for two players, two draft picks

Sharks trade Blackwood to Avs for two players and two draft picks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Sharks are moving on from Mackenzie Blackwood.

San Jose traded its top goalie to the Colorado Avalanche, the team announced Monday. Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first to report the news.

The Sharks acquired the goaltender Alexander Georgiev, Nikolai KovalenkoColorado’s 2026 second-round pick and a conditional 2025 fifth-round pick in exchange for Blackwood, forward Givani Smith and San Jose’s 2027 fifth-round pick. As part of the deal, Colorado will retain 14 percent of Georgiev’s contract, according to the Sharks.

Blackwood was traded to the Sharks as pending restricted free agent by the New Jersey Devils in June 2023. The 28-year-old goaltender compiled a save percentage of .899 during the 2023-24 NHL season with San Jose and has 529 saves in 581 opportunities so far this season.

In lieu of its 2025 fifth-round pick, Colorado will carry over the worst of its current fourth-round picks in 2025 (Colorado’s own pick or Vancouver’s) if at least two of the following conditions are met: The Avalanche advances to the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs this season; Blackwood wins 25 regular season games from the date of the trade until the end of the 2024-25 season; Blackwood starts 30 regular season games from the date of the trade until the end of the 2024-25 regular season.

Georgiev, also 28, has appeared in 18 games this year for the Avalanche, posting an 8-7-0 record with a .874 save percentage. He won six consecutive starts from November 9-27, posting a .901 save percentage. Georgiev ranked fifth among all NHL goaltenders in wins during November.

Kovalenko, 25, has recorded eight points (four goals, four assists) in 28 NHL games with Colorado this season as a rookie and ranks ninth among first-year players in goals.

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