Sharks’ goaltending: Good news and major questions ahead
SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks goalie Mackenzie Blackwood is optimistic he will not have to miss much more time after he came down with a minor groin injury last week in a game against his former team, the New Jersey Devils.
Whenever Blackwood does return, or soon after, he knows it’s possible, if not likely, that some of his present teammates – including fellow goalie Kaapo Kahkonen – could be with other organizations as the Sharks’ rebuild continues.
The NHL trade deadline is Friday at noon (PST) and Kahkonen, along with a few other Sharks players who are pending unrestricted free agents, could be shipped to playoff-contending teams.
“Everyone’s aware of what’s coming up and the situation we’re in,” Blackwood said. “But at the same time, you still have a job to do, right? Obviously, no one wants to see their friends get traded, but at the same time, if they get moved to a place where they’re in the hunt for the playoffs, I’d be happy for them as well.
“So it’s mixed feelings, but day to day, you’ve just got to do your job.”
Blackwood’s present injury – and his injury history — and Kahkonen’s possible departure certainly raise questions about the Sharks’ organizational depth at the goaltending position, and what the team’s long-term solution in net might be.
After all, Blackwood could be in Kahkonen’s spot this time next season. The Sharks are not expected to be playoff contenders in 2024-2025, and Blackwood is set to become an unrestricted free agent after his two-year deal expires in 2025.
Who’s to say he won’t be on the block as well in a year?
In other words, the Sharks might not have a long-term solution in net. That’s rather important, considering plenty of rebuilds around the NHL have gone off the rails because teams didn’t have adequate goaltending. See New Jersey, Ottawa, and Columbus for further details.
Magnus Chrona, who could be Blackwood’s tandem mate soon after Friday’s deadline, showed Saturday that he could be ready for the next step in his development.
The 6-foot-4 Chrona shined as he made 36 saves in what became a 3-2 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars. It was a vast improvement over his one other NHL start in December when he allowed four goals on 12 shots against the Edmonton Oilers and was pulled after one period.
Before the start, Blackwood, who was on the Sharks’ trip over the weekend to Dallas and Minnesota, gave Chrona some sage advice.
“I said all you can control is your game,” Blackwood said. “In the NHL as a younger guy, you get really worked up and excited and feel a bunch of emotions. But I told him, less is more a lot of times.
“So he told me after the game, he comes up and goes, ‘Less is more.’ ”
Still, Saturday’s game was one start, and even Sharks coach David Quinn said that any rookie, regardless of position, has to be consistent to remain in the NHL.
Can any of the goalies in the Sharks’ pipeline be a full-time NHL backup?
Before Saturday, Chrona, Georgi Romanov, and Eetu Makiniemi had combined for a less-than-spectacular 17-27-8 record and a .893 save percentage with the Barracuda.
That’s not all on the goalies, of course. But it inspires only so much confidence that any one of the three will be ready for a full-time NHL role next season or beyond.
Chrona and Romanov are signed through next season, but the Sharks are going to have to decide on Makiniemi, a soon-to-be restricted free agent who they acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes as part of the Brent Burns trade two years ago.
Makiniemi has a .898 save percentage in 36 games over two seasons with the Barracuda but hasn’t been able to stay healthy. He had hip surgery last offseason. played his first game this season on Oct. 20, then sat out for another month. Makiniemi, who hasn’t played since Jan. 26, was dealing with an illness as of last week.
“There are growing pains and it’s a work in progress,” Barracuda general manager Joe Will told this news organization last month. “But I think each guy there, they’ve done well given that it’s (Chrona and Romanov’s) first year, and Makiniemi’s just kind of coming back from it.”
Beyond that, Mason Beaupit, a 2022 fourth-round draft pick by the Sharks, is the only goalie on the team’s reserve list. The Sharks have to decide by June 1 whether to sign Beaupit or relinquish his rights and considering the 20-year-old goalie is now in the BCHL and not the WHL, that seems unlikely.
Plenty of rebuilds around the NHL have been stalled because teams didn’t have adequate goaltending. The Sharks, it appears, might have some work to do if they want to avoid that same pitfall.