On the New Jersey Devils' piss poor handling of Mackenzie Blackwood
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Mackenzie Blackwood’s play has been one of the biggest disappointments on the New Jersey Devils this season.
He has won just nine games, owns a woeful .894 save percentage, and has conceded nearly half a goal above expectation per 60 minutes of hockey.
Among all goaltenders to appear in at least 20 games this season, only Philipp Grubauer has fared worse than Blackwood in terms of Goals Saved Above Expectation.
While Blackwood did go through his share of struggles last year, he was very good in the early going of the season.
It stood to reason that at least some of his poor performance in the second half could be attributed to COVID-19 – Blackwood himself noted he got it good – and lingering injuries.
With a summer to recover, much more was expected of Blackwood this year. Put simply, he has not delivered.
Even accounting for the possibility media members and fans overrated Blackwood’s potential, the level of play we’ve seen has been borderline shocking.
We now know that wasn’t simply because ‘Blackwood isn’t good’. Injuries have again played a part. Perhaps even a large part.
That’s why Blackwood now finds himself on injured reserve; and that’s why there is no timeline for his return.
This brings forward a lot of questions.
Why was Blackwood playing in the first place, let alone carrying a starter’s workload?
Why was Ruff trotting Blackwood out so frequently knowing Blackwood was not even close to fully healthy?
Why was Ruff giving out daily quotes about how Blackwood needs to ‘take the ball and run with it’ or ‘live in the moment’?
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