Playoffs could be a coming-out party for Avalanche’s MacKenzie Blackwood

The Colorado Avalanche and general manager Chris MacFarland have gotten heaping praise for turning one of the worst goaltending situations in the league into a strength.

Over the past year, MacFarland has replaced both his starting and backup goalies with MacKenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood, who have formed one of the better duos in the NHL this season as the Avs cruise toward the Presidents’ Trophy.

Blackwood, who owns a 21-9-1 record to go with his .905 save percentage and 2.42 goals against average, is likely to be the team’s number one when the playoffs roll around later this month.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed why Blackwood has the opportunity to establish himself as one of the elite netminders in the league if he can carry Colorado to the Stanley Cup.

Tyler Yaremchuk: We have an #AskDFO question I’m gonna spin a little bit for you, Hutts. So J-Rock asked heading into the playoffs, which goalies do you feel the most comfortable with making a deep playoff run? But I’m not gonna let you use a little like cop-out answer like a Jake Oettinger or an Andrei Vasilevsky. I want you to look around at some of the inexperienced guys we talked about a few weeks ago around the league. Who’s maybe an under-the-radar, inexperienced goalie that you actually do think has the ability to elevate in the postseason?

Carter Hutton: I like the challenge, but you know who I think this could be is coming out party? I like MacKenzie Blackwood. I really do. I think he’s an elite athlete. I think he plays the game very well and I think as the playoffs start to tighten up and I think things are gonna get harder and harder. He is an unbelievable goalie. He has huge size, and I think as the traffic starts to elevate come playoff time and there’s more tips more directions, I think he can use that size to his advantage, and then his raw athleticism will come in handy with that maturity of being those big games last year. MacKenzie Blackwood is my guy, and obviously it helps playing for the Colorado Avalanche, but I think he can be that difference maker in that Central Division.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…