As Avalanche camp nears, the biggest question in Colorado might be the one in net: can Scott Wedgewood do it again?
That’s where a lot of the optimism around the Avalanche starts. The team is hoping for another season where everything clicks, and if it does, goaltending is going to be right at the center of it. Last year, Colorado got elite work from its goalie tandem and wound up winning the Jennings Trophy, given to the team that allows the fewest goals in the regular season.
Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood were the names behind that success. Blackwood arrived with the bigger contract and the higher profile, carrying a salary of over $5 million per season, but it was Wedgewood - a longtime backup who found new life in Colorado - who grabbed the crease to open the year and largely held onto it even after Blackwood returned from injury.
That was not exactly the expected script. Wedgewood had never really established himself as a full-time No. 1 before, so his run with the Avalanche caught plenty of people around the league by surprise. Now comes the harder part: proving it wasn’t a one-year spike.
The numbers from last season make the case that Wedgewood was far more than a stopgap. He appeared in a career-high 45 games and finished 31-6 in regulation with six more wins in overtime. Before that, his high-water mark was 37 games in 2021-22, when he split time with three teams.
His 2.02 goals-against average was easily the best of his career. The previous top mark came in 2022-23 with Dallas, when he posted a 2.72 goals-against average in 21 games. His .921 save percentage was also a personal best, topping the .915 he recorded with Dallas that same season.
There’s a reason some around Avalanche Nation are willing to believe this is sustainable. Backup goalies have stepped into bigger roles before and run with them, and the article points to former Bruins netminders Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask as examples.
Rask was younger when he took over, while Thomas didn’t seize the job until he was 32. Wedgewood is 33 now, and the hope in Colorado is that his path keeps looking more like Thomas’s than a typical backup’s.
The early returns in burgundy and blue are hard to ignore. In 64 games with the Avalanche, Wedgewood owns a combined 2.02 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. Those are the kind of numbers that support a team playing at a high level defensively, which is exactly what Colorado got last season.
Still, the Avalanche have another proven goalie in Blackwood, and that gives them some cushion. If Wedgewood falls back toward his career norms, Colorado should still have respectable goaltending. But the odds of matching last season’s regular-season standard would get a lot tougher.
Blackwood, who makes more than Wedgewood and comes with big expectations, is the goalie who should be viewed as the main option. Even so, his injury history means the Avalanche can’t just pencil him in and move on. They need Wedgewood ready to deliver again, whether that means starting games or stepping in when called upon.
For Avalanche fans, the dream is simple: Wedgewood keeps this rolling and helps push the team all the way to the promised land.
In Other News...
Avalanche Have An Undrafted Newcomer Pushing Into The Roster Picture
T.J. Hughes has already started making an impression around the Avalanche before training camp even gets rolling. The undrafted free agent, signed after a strong college career at Michigan, has been showing up for the team's optional skates and shootout drills, where his puck skills, creativity and work ethic have stood out enough to put him on the radar in a real way.
For a player arriving without the draft pedigree that usually buys time, every rep matters now. Hughes is at least giving Colorado something to think about as the roster begins to take shape, but the bigger test is still ahead in camp and the preseason, where he will have to keep turning that early curiosity into a legitimate opening-night case. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Had A Great Offseason Encounter Fans Will Love
Mackenzie Blackwood and Taylor Makar turned an ordinary offseason workout into a small bit of Colorado Avalanche intrigue when they were spotted practicing together at Scotiabank Pond in North York, Ontario. The sighting came via NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, who passed along an account from a local gym member who noticed the session, then later spoke with the two players after they identified themselves.
What stood out in the report was not just that they were on the ice together, but the way the encounter came across. Both players were described as skilled and approachable, the kind of offseason moment that tends to resonate with fans who like seeing their teams players around the game even when the schedule is quiet. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Legend Ryan Miller Had Fans Doing A Double Take In Colorado
Ryan Miller gave Colorado hockey fans a quick double take on Aug. 23 when he suited up in an Avalanche alumni game against DU Hockey alumni, even though he never played a regular-season game for the Avalanche. The former Sabres standout was in net for the event, a reminder of how alumni games can produce some strange-looking rosters and even stranger nostalgia for fans who are used to seeing familiar names in unfamiliar sweaters.
Miller later explained on social media that his appearance was tied to a personal connection and an invitation from a former teammate, which helped make sense of the surprise. On the current Avalanche side, the bigger offseason storyline still points toward business getting done sooner rather than later, with GM Joe Sakic saying he feels good about the club signing Cale Makar to an extension before the season begins and describing the dialogue as positive. [Read more 🡒]