Blackwood opens about his time in New Jersey.
The writing was on the wall, and 26-year-old Mackenzie Blackwood knew his time with the New Jersey Devils was coming to an end.
After 152 games, Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald traded the netminder to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a 2023 sixth-round draft pick, which they used to select Cole Brown.
On July 3, the San Jose Sharks held Blackwood's introductory media availability via a Zoom conference call. He spoke about reuniting with some former teammates, including Fabian Zetterlund and Kevin Labanc, who was his teammate on the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League.
Near the end of the call, I asked him how he was going to reflect on his past five seasons with the Devils organization.
"I had a great time there. That was the first team and only team I'd been with until now," he said. "They gave me the first opportunity to develop my game and play in the league."
Blackwood was drafted 42nd overall by New Jersey in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. He was the second goaltender selected in the draft behind Ilya Samsonov.
"I'm very thankful for the time I've had there. I have great memories and good teammates and obviously met a lot of great people, so nothing but positives. There were unfortunate injuries and stuff like that, and it's just the way it goes sometimes. But I was definitely thankful for the years that I had there."
He continued to say a bunch of his now former teammates reached out to him once the trade was made public via both text messages and calls.
"I had a lot of good relationships with a lot of the players there. Obviously, that's probably the toughest part. You have a lot of good friendships, but there's a lot of turnovers this year. A lot of people going in different places. I guess that's just part of the business."
Blackwood will face his former teammates for the first time at Prudential Center on Dec. 1, 2023. Th Sharks will host the Devils on Feb. 27, 2024, at the SAP Center at San Jose.