Blackwood returning
Devils re-sign their free agent goalie to three-year deal
The New Jersey Devils have re-signed restricted free agent goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to a three-year, $8.4 million contract.
General manager Tom Fitzgerald announced the deal for the Devils’ No. 1 goaltender on Wednesday.
“Mackenzie is going to be one of the key young, core pieces for this organization for a long time and we are excited and extremely happy to have him under contract,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s obviously shown that he can be a No. 1 goalie, and the sky’s the limit for him.”
Blackwood, 24, will earn $1.48 million this coming season. His salary will jump to $2.8 million the following season and $4.12 million in 2022-23.
“I’m excited. I’m really happy to be back,” Blackwood said from his hotel room in New Jersey. “You know, this is awesome. I’m really excited for the year coming up and, you know, to get back with the team and see all the faces and all the new ones that I haven’t met yet.”
The NHL will have a 56-game season in 2021. The first game will be played on Jan. 13 and the regular season is scheduled to run through May 8.
Blackwood posted a 22-14-8 record with a 2.77 goals-against average and three shutouts last season, which was paused because of the COVID -19 pandemic and later restarted by going straight into the playoffs with 24 teams. He had a .915 save percentage.
The Devils went 28-2912, missing the playoffs.
Because the Devils missed the playoffs, they will be allowed to start training camp on Dec. 31. Playoff teams begin on Jan. 3.
Blackwood, who started working out in Toronto in November, said that once the NHL schedule was outlined, contract talks progressed quickly.
New Jersey signed veteran goaltender Corey Crawford in the offseason.
Lightning: Leading playoff scorer Nikita Kucherov is expected to miss the entire regular season because of a hip injury that requires surgery, a blow to Tampa Bay that also comes with a silver lining for the defending Stanley Cup champion. Kucherov won’t be available for the 56-game NHL season that’s scheduled to run from Jan. 13May 8. General manager Julien Brisebois is optimistic the 27-year-old will be back for the playoffs and said Kucherov’s absence will allow the Lightning the long-term salary relief to be salary-cap compliant with the rest of their key players under contract.
Blackhawks: Chicago forward Alex Nylander could miss the entire 2021 season because of a left knee injury. The 22-year-old Nylander got hurt during the playoffs. Team physician Michael Terry said Wednesday that Nylander rested and then trained conservatively, but symptoms returned when he started to skate again. Nylander had surgery Monday to repair a meniscus tear in the knee but is not expected to return to hockey activities for four to six months.
NHL: The league released a first-of-its kind schedule Wednesday featuring four realigned divisions based on geography and limited to division play only. Each team will play 56 regularseason games, which will be squeezed into what’s tentatively scheduled as a 116-day stretch ending on May 8. It includes an NHL first: An all-canadian North Division made up the nation’s seven teams will play each other nine or 10 times. The three remaining eight-team divisions have all U.S. teams, which will face each division foe eight times.
Sabres: Buffalo signed forward Casey Mittelstadt to a one-year, $874,125 contract, a little over a week before the team opens training camp. Mittelstadt was a restricted free agent entering his fourth NHL season after being selected with the eighth pick in the 2017 draft.
Predators: Nashville signed forward Mikael Granlund to a one-year, $3.75 million contract, bringing him back to the team that traded for him in February 2019. They also signed one of his former teammates, adding forward Erik Haula on a oneyear, $1.75 million deal.