Avalanche Purchases Smith and Blackwood from San Jose.

Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, forward Nikolai Kovalenko, a 2025 fifth-round draft pick, and a 2026 second-round pick were traded to the San Jose Sharks for goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, forward Givani Smith, and a fifth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft, the Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today.

This season, Blackwood, 28, has made 19 appearances for the San Jose Sharks (17 starts), recording a 6-9-3 record, a.910 Sv%, a 3.00 GAA, and one shutout. The 44-save effort in New Jersey on November 10 produced the clean sheet. Blackwood leads Sharks goalies in 2024–25 with six victories, and as of December 9, his.910 Sv% tied for 12th place in the NHL among goaltenders with at least 10 games played. His 529 saves also put him fifth in the circuit as of December 9.

Blackwood started the season with a 0-2-2 record, but in his last 14 games (since October 28), he has gone 6-6-1 with a 2.72 GAA and.916 Sv%. On October 22, he also played his 200th game.Blackwood, a product of Thunder Bay, Ontario, has a career record of 81-91-25 with the Sharks and New Jersey Devils from 2018 to 25. He has a 3.07 GAA, a.905 Sv%, and 11 shutouts in 215 games. He placed sixth in the Calder Memorial Trophy voting and made career highs in wins (22) and shutouts (3) over 47 games in 2019–20.

Blackwood played in two games during a conditioning stint with the Utica Comets in 2022–2023 and 90 AHL games with the Albany/Binghamton Devils from 2016–19. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound goalie played three seasons with the OHL’s Barrie Colts from 2013–16 before turning pro, winning the league’s Goaltender of the Year award in his last season.

Georgiev was chosen for the NHL All-Star Game the previous season after recording an 86-41-11 record with the Avalanche from 2022 to 25. He was acquired on July 7, 2022, in a deal with the New York Rangers.

During his first season in 2024–25, Kovalenko skated in 28 games for Colorado and scored eight points (4g/4a). As the sixth player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to make his NHL debut in the playoffs, he did so in Game Four of the First Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.