PITTSBURGH – Colorado Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland deserves one credit: He wasted very little time identifying and fixing his club’s biggest weakness.

The Avs completely overhauled the goaltending depth chart in 10 days. MacFarland sent starter Alexandar Georgiev to San Jose for Mackenzie Blackwood on Monday before the other goalie he acquired had time to add a Colorado-style face mask.

In the NHL, it’s difficult to make a single goaltender trade before Christmas. He made two.

In: Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood. Missing: Georgiev and Justus Annunen.

“We didn’t have both deals, like we didn’t go into it: ‘We have to do two deals,'” MacFarland said. “We felt like we needed an upgrade a few weeks ago and started wearing out the tires.”

The full details of Monday’s transaction: Colorado sent Georgiev, forward Nikolai Kovalenko, a 2026 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick to San Jose for Blackwood, forward Givani Smith and a 2027 fifth-round pick. The Avs also reportedly retained 14% of Georgiev’s salary.

“I love it,” said former NHL goaltender Cory Schneider, who played for Blackwood in New Jersey. “To be honest, I think he has as much talent (and size) as anyone in the league. He just had to mature his game as he got older.”

The Avs are dealing with the worst injury/availability crisis in the NHL this season. The combination of missing key players and the length of time they were out was bad for anyone trying to map the impact of injuries through visual data.

That’s one of the main reasons for the club’s poor record, but the goalkeeper is clearly the other. And on many nights, poor goaltending was the biggest problem – the other Avs often performed admirably despite undermanned lineups.

“I think the rocky start shook us to the core,” MacFarland said. “I won’t lie. We came out of the gate very slowly. It’s no secret – our goaltending wasn’t up to par. … The start was inconsistent and we felt like we had to make a move, so we did.”

Wedgewood has been great in his three appearances and the Avalanche are still last in the NHL in team percentage. The Avs haven’t been able to overcome their woes in net, so MacFarland has continued to make major inroads into the depth chart.

Blackwood has absolutely been a better goalkeeper than Georgiev this season. It’s not close.

Georgiev has a better track record and real playoff experience. Blackwood has never played in a Stanley Cup playoff game. When the Devils made it to 2023, Akira Schmid and Vitek Vanecek shared postseason starts.

“The challenge for (Blackwood) will be to get a good team,” Schneider said. “This sounds strange, but he played on the same bad Jersey teams and terrible (San Jose) teams with no expectations/pressure.

“Now he has to deal with the pressure of getting MacKinnon/Makar/Rantanen to a Cup while they are in their prime.”

Wedgewood has also never started an NHL playoff game. His postseason resume includes three relief appearances for Dallas.

That’s why the Avs prefer Blackwood’s current form over Georgiev’s long-term resume. Given that both goaltenders are in the final years of their contracts and could be unrestricted free agents after this season, the potential short-term upgrade might be the only thing that matters.

Even with all the injuries, the Avs are still firmly in a cup-or-bust season. Aside from captain Gabe Landeskog’s continued uncertainty, there is a near future in which the Avs are healthy and one of the NHL’s best teams. They certainly looked like they did on a Sunday night strangling New Jersey at the Prudential Center.

If short-term confidence in Georgiev was shaken and there were concerns about him “finding it again,” then this move makes sense on paper. It remains to be seen whether Blackwood can be the No. 1 seed in the playoffs or whether this tandem can win 16 postseason games together.

The cost of this Georgiev-Blackwood swap is also significant. Kovalenko has shown that he is a real NHL player. He’s 25 years old and will be a restricted free agent after this season, but there was a future where he would be a good player with good depth for this team at a reasonable price.

Moving a second-round pick to accomplish this is also a significant advantage. The Avs will remain in cup-or-bust mode as long as Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are two of the best players in the world.

Current NHL players who can help them win another championship will still be prioritized over draft picks. But Colorado’s war chest is pretty empty.