Avalanche acquire Blackwood from Sharks as part of deal for Georgiev, Kovalenko
On Monday, the Colorado Avalanche acquired goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood from the San Jose Sharks.
The Avs also received forward Givani Smith and the Sharks’ fifth-round pick in 2027. In return, San Jose is receiving goaltender Alexander Georgiev, forward Nikolai Kovalenko, a 2025 fifth-round pick and a second-rounder in 2026.
Trade details:
To #GoAvsGo:
G Mackenzie Blackwood
F Givani Smith
2027 5th Rd Pick
To #sjsharks:
G Alexandar Georgiev
F Nikolai Kovalenko
2026 2nd Rd Pick
2025 5th Rd Pick
Solid asset management and rehab by Sharks GM Mike Grier, who got rights to Blackwood for a 6th in 2023.
The Avalanche is clearly on the hunt to improve its goaltending situation. Georgiev has had a terrible start to the year, with Justus Annunen not playing much better. Though Colorado sits in a Wild Card spot, it has not been because of the team’s play between the pipes.
General manager Chris MacFarland made one move already, acquiring Scott Wedgewood from the Nashville Predators last week for Annunen and a 2025 sixth-round pick. Getting Blackwood is a solid attempt at ensuring the team has a solid duo for the remainder of the season.
Blackwood is heading into the final season of his two-year contract that he signed with the Sharks in July 2023, right after he was traded to San Jose from the New Jersey Devils. The deal has a cap hit of $2.35 million.
Despite having played for a pretty bad Sharks team for the last couple of seasons, Blackwood has looked fairly good this year. In 19 appearances, the 28-year-old has a record of 6-9-3 with a 3.00 goals-against average, a .911 save percentage and one shutout.
Georgiev is 8-7-0 in 18 games thus far, with a poor 3.38 GAA and an .874 SV%. The Bulgarian backstop is also in the final year of his contract, a three-year deal signed in July 2022 with an AAV of $3.4 million.
A longtime pro that has seen plenty of time in both the American Hockey League and the NHL, Smith is in the second season of a two-year deal he signed with San Jose in July 2023 with an NHL cap hit of $800,000. Smith has played in six games this season with the Sharks, having scored no points while putting up 10 penalty minutes. The 26-year-old was placed on waivers on Sunday and eventually cleared on Monday.
Kovalenko has appeared in 28 of the Avs’ 29 games so far this season, having scored four goals and eight points. This was his second season with the team since joining Colorado late last year after being on loan to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League. He’s in the final season of his two-year contract, with an AAV of $925,000. Kovalenko would become a restricted free agent this summer.