The Colorado Avalanche have swapped goaltenders with San Jose, sending a struggling Alexandar Georgiev to the Sharks for Mackenzie Blackwood.
As part of the deal announced Monday — on Blackwood’s 28th birthday — the Avalanche also acquired forward Givani Smith along with San Jose’s fifth-round pick in 2027. The Sharks received forward Nikolai Kovalenko and two draft picks — a fifth-round selection in 2025 and a second-round pick in 2026.
Colorado will retain 14% of Georgiev’s contract, which equates to approximately $476,000. He was in the last season of a $10.2 million, three-year deal.
The 28-year-old Georgiev had a slow start to the season, even spending some time on the bench. He is 8-7 with a 3.38 goals-against average and a .874 save percentage.
Georgiev was acquired by Colorado in a deal with New York Rangers on July 7, 2022. He made the NHL All-Star Game a year ago in a season when he finished with a league-leading 38 wins. He wound up 86-41-11 in an Avalanche sweater.
Blackwood is off to a slow start, too, with an 0-2-2 mark. But he has a 2.72 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage over his last 14 appearances. On Oct. 22, Blackwood celebrated his 200th career game by stopping 37 of 39 shots in a 3-1 loss to Anaheim.
The Sharks initially acquired Blackwood from New Jersey in 2023 for a sixth-round pick. By trading Blackwood to the Avalanche, the Sharks were able to net a prized prospect in Kovalenko and future assets in the draft.
A rookie this season, Kovalenko has four goals and four assists over 28 games. He’s currently ninth in goals among first-year players. The 25-year-old Kovalenko made his NHL debut during Game 4 of Colorado’s first-round playoff series last season. He became the sixth player in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to have his NHL debut arrive in the playoffs.
Smith has played in six games for San Jose this season. The 26-year-old was originally selected by Detroit in the second round of the 2016 draft.