[Trade] Sharks trade Blackwood, Smith, 5th to Avs for Kovalenko, Georgiev (14% ret), 2nd, 5th

[Monahammer]

Kovalenko has potential upside. near ppg in KHL. Kind of like younger Kuzmenko without contract I guess.

Bummer that we couldn't get Vladar into this deal.

[SuperMatt18]

Blackwood is intriguing to me.

He played on some Devils teams that were pretty leaky defensively and got a bit scapegoated even though he was super young.

Now went to some pretty terrible San Jose teams and held his own even though they were terrible teams.

I think if Colorado can get healthy and shore up their game around him then they will be in okay shape.

Edit: I would have sworn Blackwood was younger than Vladar but he's not...crazy.

[Monahammer]

Lottery ticket and a 2nd is a great pickup for a goalie with way worse history than Vladar. But that was the most desperate team out there for a goalie. Maybe Carolina comes to play but I see them as less urgent. Probably missed the plane here. Hopefully not because we're sitting on our hands to see how the team plays.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Lottery ticket and a 2nd is a great pickup for a goalie with way worse history than Vladar. But that was the most desperate team out there for a goalie. Maybe Carolina comes to play but I see them as less urgent. Probably missed the plane here. Hopefully not because we're sitting on our hands to see how the team plays.

Sharks also gave up Smith and a 5th

Not insignificant

The goalie also has better numbers this season despite playing for the Sharks. How can you possibly know if the Avs valued Vladar the same?

[Erick Estrada]

The Avs had to do something but when a team trades both of its opening day goaltenders by December it's a bad look on the GM.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Lottery ticket and a 2nd is a great pickup for a goalie with way worse history than Vladar.

Not sure why you say that.

Blackwood, has been a starter before with a career 3.07 GAA and a .904 sv. (.909 this year).

Vladar is a career back up with a career 3.02 GAA and .984 sv.% (.900 this year).

Blackwood has also been better this year with a .909 sv. % and 3.9 goals saved above average, vs, .900 and 1.8 for Vladar.

He's generally been better across the board.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Sharks also gave up Smith, a 5th, and a retention spot

Not insignificant

The goalie also has better numbers this season despite playing for the Sharks. How can you possibly know if the Avs valued Vladar the same?

It appears to me the retention was done by the Avs, not the Sharks.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Sharks also gave up Smith, a 5th, and a retention spot

Not insignificant

The goalie also has better numbers this season despite playing for the Sharks. How can you possibly know if the Avs valued Vladar the same?

No I don't think they gave up a retention spot.

Vladar still has the mystery of untapped potential but Blackwood has the better track record. Their value might be comparable league wide IDK. A second would be nice.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Lottery ticket and a 2nd is a great pickup for a goalie with way worse history than Vladar. But that was the most desperate team out there for a goalie. Maybe Carolina comes to play but I see them as less urgent. Probably missed the plane here. Hopefully not because we're sitting on our hands to see how the team plays.

Way worse in what way?

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Tkachukwagon

https://twitter.com/user/status/1866226002185310549

I watched him the other night against Florida. He was pretty great and was the only reason it wasn't 8 or 9-0. Made a ton of great saves. He's probably going to give the Avs a boost in net. Whether that lasts long term, who knows.

[All In Good Time]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

It appears to me the retention was done by the Avs, not the Sharks.

Yeah the Sharks retention spots are all used up on Burns, Karlsson and Hertl

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

No I don't think they gave up a retention spot.

Vladar still has the mystery of untapped potential but Blackwood has the better track record. Their value might be comparable league wide IDK. A second would be nice.

I doubt that Colorado was interested in any mystery box, they want as good of goalie as they can get right now.

[mogg]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Sharks also gave up Smith, a 5th, and a retention spot

Not insignificant

The goalie also has better numbers this season despite playing for the Sharks. How can you possibly know if the Avs valued Vladar the same?

Blackwood was also a decent starter for NJ before injuries got the better of him.

https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/san-jo...e-he-was-ready

Grier bets on him resurrecting his career then cashes in. Nice work. The old Devils tandem reunited.

[Ped]

I did not know that Nikolai Kovalenko was born in North Carolina and is the son of former NHLer (and part of the Patrick Roy trade) Andrei Kovalenko, who had 379 points in 620 NHL games with Quebec/Colorado, Montreal, Edmonton, Philly, Carolina (hence Nikolai) and Boston. He then spent 8 seasons pre-KHL in Russia.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Lottery ticket and a 2nd is a great pickup for a goalie with way worse history than Vladar. But that was the most desperate team out there for a goalie. Maybe Carolina comes to play but I see them as less urgent. Probably missed the plane here. Hopefully not because we're sitting on our hands to see how the team plays.

I think Blackwood has a much better history than Vladar.

In his first 3 seasons in New Jersey he put up a .911 over 105 games and was talked about as a potential Team Canada goalie.

Then he had two rough seasons where injuries and confidence really hampered him in NJ - put up a .893 in those 47 games.

And now on what's been the worst team in the league over the last two seasons he's bounced back with a .902 over 63 games even though he faces the toughest competition of any goalie with 40+ appearances the last two seasons (3.42 xGA per 60)

If you want a guy who potentially can be a starter then I think Blackwood has shown more than Vladar in terms of being able to handle that workload too.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I think Blackwood has a much better history than Vladar.

He's just flat out a better goaltender.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

No I don't think they gave up a retention spot.

Vladar still has the mystery of untapped potential but Blackwood has the better track record. Their value might be comparable league wide IDK. A second would be nice.

My mistake, read it wrong

[Scooter]

Originally Posted by Ped

Well, Smith just cleared waivers, so probably just a body to even out hte contracts. Kovalenko as I said, looked okay for a rookie, but he is 25 and only has 8 points in 25 games on a team that scores a lot, so he's probably an NHLer, but not an irreplaceable one. Basically it's a goalie swap with retention and the 2nd to take that on, plus the fact that Blackwood is better.. Georgiev is UFA next summer.

Yaroslav Askarov is the hopeful future starter for San Jose!

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

I doubt that Colorado was interested in any mystery box, they want as good of goalie as they can get right now.

Yeah that is a good point about Colorado. But maybe another team looks at it differently.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Scooter

Yaroslav Askarov is the hopeful future starter for San Jose!

Yeah, I think SJS played it well, first acquiring Askarov, then showcasing Blackwood for a trade. You can agree or disagree on the value of individual players, but their strategy is clear and sensible.