The Colorado Avalanche, a preseason Stanley Cup favorite now fighting for a spot in the wild-card playoffs and looking for consistency in net, acquired goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood in a trade with the San Jose Sharks on Monday taken over.

The Avs received Blackwood and forward Givani Smith from the Sharks in exchange for goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, rookie forward Nikolai Kovalenko, a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 second-round pick. The Avs also kept $476,000 of Georgiev’s salary.

Blackwood’s arrival is the latest development for a front office that has reshaped its goaltending tandem over the last 10 days. Colorado traded its backup goalies with the Nashville Predators on November 30, bringing in Scott Wedgewood in exchange for Justus Annunen.

Wedgewood recorded a 4-0 shutout against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. He also relieved Georgiev, who gave up four goals on eight shots as the Avs earned a 5-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabers on Dec. 3.

In what has been a difficult season at times for the 2022 Stanley Cup champions, figuring out how the Avalanche would approach their goaltending became a priority.

What made the need to resolve their goalkeeping crisis even more important was the mismatch with their defensive metrics. Natural Stat Trick data shows the Avs rank in the top 10 for fewest scoring chances allowed per 60 and shots allowed per 60, while boasting the second-lowest team save percentage in the NHL at 88.8%.

That save percentage was increased because the Avalanche had already used four different goaltenders before the team’s 30th game. Last season, the Avs only needed three goaltenders to get through an 82-game season.

Although Blackwood has a 6-9-3 record with a 3.00 goals-against average, he has a save percentage of .910, which ranks him 12th among goaltenders with more than 10 games. He also came into Monday with a GSVA of 3.9 (goals saved above expectations), ranking him 20th.

Blackwood is also an impending unrestricted free agent in the final season of a two-year contract that will pay him $2.35 million annually, while Wedgewood has another year left on his contract.

Entering Monday, the Avs (16-13-0) were tied with the Edmonton Oilers but occupied the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The rebuilding Sharks (10-15-6) were seven points behind the Avs and seven points ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks for the NHL’s worst record.

Georgiev, who averaged 39 wins in his first two seasons with the Avs, joins Vitek Vanecek as part of the Sharks’ goaltending tandem. Both are waiting for the UFA at the end of the season for a team that also has one of the best goaltender candidates in the NHL in Yaroslav Askarov in the AHL.

This now gives the Sharks seven UFAs that could potentially be traded before the NHL trade deadline to gain more draft capital.

Kovalenko, the son of former NHL forward Andrei Kovalenko, is a 25-year-old who came to North America last season after spending the last few years playing in the KHL in Russia. Kovalenko, who has four goals and eight points in 28 games, will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.