NHL Rumors: 3 Landing Spots For Mackenzie Blackwood This Offseason

It's been a rough past few seasons for Mackenzie Blackwood.

Once, one of the top goalie prospects in the NHL, Blackwood has not been able to consistently develop into a viable starting goaltender. 

In fact, the opposite has ocurred, each year he's been in the NHL, he's posted worse numbers than the year before.

Blackwood is in the final year of his contract and is a restricted free agent. However, with the Devils seemingly finding their duo between the pipes in Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid, it's becoming more likely they allow him to hit free agency, and attempt to revive his career elsewhere.

Here are three potential landing spots for Mackenzie Blackwood this summer in free agency:

San Jose Sharks

The Sharks have had a goalie issue for quite a while now. Martin Jones came and went, as did Adin Hill and, now, likely James Reimer. That leaves Kaapo Kahkonen, who's set to hit free agency next offseason.

With a rebuild imminent, the Sharks need to address their goalie problem. They have Benjamin Gaudreau in the system, and he looks good, but who knows how far away he is. 

At 26 years old still, Blackwood could be a good fit for the Sharks, and provide him an opportunity to revive his career with a full-time role. 

Maybe former NHL goalie, now Sharks' goalie coach, Evgeni Nabokov could work his magic with Blackwood.

Anaheim Ducks

With the Ducks likely moving on from John Gibson this offseason, they'll be looking to add another goaltender, as that would leave them with Anthony Stolarz and Lukas Dostal between the pipes. 

Mackenzie Blackwood could also be a good fit in Anaheim, with the team's young core and promising future, he'd fit right in. He could slide right into the starting role and get a couple seasons under his belt as a starting goalie before the team, hopefully, is truly a competitor. 

Securing the first overall pick, and Connor Bedard, in this year's draft would certainly expedite that process.

Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks are in a rough spot right now. After losing Patrick Kane and now Jonathan Toews, the team is in full rebuild mode. 

As a result, they may not go after Mackenzie Blackwood as they look to be quite a ways off from being a competitive team again. However, their current goalie situation is Petr Mrazek and Alex Stalock. 

Stalock is slated to become a free agent, and Mrazek will become one after the 2023-24 season. As a result, they'll be looking for a goaltender next offseason, and they might as well get ahead of it and secure one they could build around for the future. 

Blackwood checks that box for them and playing in a low-pressure situation, like Chicago will be for the next few years, could be valuable to helping him regain his confidence as a goalie in the NHL. 

Honorable Mention: Ottawa Senators

The Senators are definitely a team to keep an eye on here. The only reason they might not go after Blackwood would be that they're looking to compete now, and Blackwood is too much of a risk as a primary goalie for a team looking to be competitive right away.
Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports