The Devils should be able to absorb Blackwood's injury

The team is much better equipped to handle his absence than a season ago.

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By Alex Chauvancy (@AlexC_THW)

It was a sight no one wanted to see on Thursday night. About halfway through the game against the Edmonton Oilers, goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood went down with what appeared to be a non-contact lower-body injury. He'd leave the game and not return after getting replaced by Vitek Vanecek. 

On Friday’s episode of DFO Rundown, Jason Gregor, who covers the Oilers, said he saw Blackwood leaving Rogers Place in a leg brace. There's no word on specifics of his injury and how long he could be out. But based on the Utica Comets' roster last night, it appears Akira Schmid could be joining the Devils in Calgary today. 

If that's the case, Blackwood is at least out for the finale of the Western Canada trip. It's also certainly possible it could be much longer than a day-to-day injury.

Fortunately, the Devils should be better equipped to handle not having Blackwood, whether short- or long-term. And they'll have some external options in a worst-case scenario, too. 

Vitek Vanecek

He's the obvious solution but Vanecek will likely get an extended run as the Devils' starter if Blackwood is out for the foreseeable future. Since his first start of the season against the Detroit Red Wings, he's played very well, posting a .944 save percentage in his five appearances and raising his save percentage to .911 for the season. 

Vanecek has a goals saved above expected of minus-0.19, meaning he's stopped what's expected of him to this point, and his five-on-five save percentages are beginning to climb with his strong play. The Devils won't want to overplay him for however long Blackwood is out, but they should be in good hands with him as their 1A. 

Jonathan Bernier

Bernier was always going to be the wild card to the Devils' goaltending situation, even without a Blackwood injury. He traveled with the team to Western Canada, but it's not a surprise he won't suit up for game action yet, considering it's been close to 11 months since he's played in an NHL game. 

Bernier was playing well in a Devils uniform prior to his hip injury. He had a .914 save percentage in nine games before giving up six goals on 32 shots against the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 3. Soon after, the Devils announced he'd need hip surgery and would miss the remainder of the 2021-22 season. 

Hip injuries can be a death knell for goaltenders. It effectively ended Cory Schneider's NHL career and forced Tuukka Rask to retire about a year ago. Some have come back from hip procedures before, though. Pavel Francouz had double hip surgery and missed the entire COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign before returning for the start of last season. He has a .914 SV% in 24 games since coming back from surgery. 

Pekka Rinne had hip surgery nearly a decade ago and, while he never missed a season, it did take him about a year to return to form. That doesn't mean Bernier will perform to the levels Francouz or Rinne did post-surgery, but you can't rule it out yet. There's just no way to know until we see him in game action, though expectations should be low.