The Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks completed a 4 player trade on Monday afternoon which will see each club swap net minders and draft picks.
Colorado will receive Mackenzie Blackwood, Givani Smith, and a 2027 5th round draft pick in exchange for goalie Alexandar Georgiev, Nikolai Kovalenko, a 2026 2nd round pick, and a 2025 5th rounder.
Blackwood currently sports a 6-9-3 record, with a 3.00 GAA and .911 SV% across 19 appearances with the Sharks. The 28 year old is currently in the final season of a 2 year, $4.7M contract which will see him become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.
Georgiev amassed an 86-41-11 record with the Avalanche between 2022-25 and was selected to the NHL All-Star Game last season. He was acquired by the club via trade with the New York Rangers on July 7th, 2022.
The 28 year old posted career bests in wins (40), GAA (2.51), shutouts (5) and SV% (.919) back in 2022-23. However he’s struggled to find consistency this season, with an inflated 3.38 GAA and .874 SV%.
That subpar play is part of the reason why the Avalanche, who were a popular pick to make Stanley Cup run in the preseason, are currently 4th in the Central Division, and only 3 games above .500. Evidently GM Chris MacFarland believed a shake up was warranted, and that perhaps a change of scenery would be beneficial for both Georgiev and Blackwood alike.
Both clubs are next in action on Tuesday as the Ava will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins, while the Sharks will travel to Carolina to take on the Hurricanes.
Photo: Jenn G. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.