The Devils officially have their goaltending duo.
Restricted free agent goalie Mackenzie Blackwood signed a new three-year contract with a $2.8 million average annual value, the team announced Wednesday. The 24-year-old will make $1.475 million in the first year of his deal before it increases to $2.8 million in 2021-22 and $4.125 million in 2022-23.
“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,” general manager Tom Fitzgerald said in a statement. “He’s obviously shown that he can be a number one goalie, and the sky’s the limit for him.”
The Devils’ 42nd-overall pick in 2015 appeared in 47 games for the Devils during the 2019-20 season, posting a 22-14-8 record and a .915 save percentage. He primarily split games with Louis Domingue and Cory Schneider, who is reportedly on the verge of signing with the Islanders after he was bought out by the Devils.
Blackwood is widely considered to be the No. 1 netminder now after he finished in sixth place in the Calder Trophy voting for the league’s Rookie of the Year last season. He has accumulated a .916 save percentage and five shutouts in 70 career games over parts of the past two seasons in New Jersey.
“It’s really exciting and a really new experience for me,” Blackwood told reporters Wednesday. “I’ve never negotiated a contract before, but I have nothing but good feelings here. I’m really fortunate and thankful to be back.”
Blackwood is expected to share the crease with veteran Corey Crawford, who signed a two-year contract worth $7.8 million with the Devils in October after 13 decorated years with the Blackhawks. In 2019-20, Crawford had a .917 save percentage in 40 starts for Chicago.
Crawford, 35, reached out to Blackwood shortly after joining the organization, Blackwood said Wednesday.
“I grew up watching him play,” said Blackwood, who added that he hopes to incorporate parts of Crawford’s game into his own.
After training in Toronto during the summer, Blackwood said he’s back in New Jersey and quarantining in accordance with the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols. The Devils are permitted to open training camp as early as Dec. 31 as one of the seven teams that didn’t compete in the 2020 playoffs.
