Devils send Blackwood's rights to Sharks for 6th-round pick

The New Jersey Devils traded goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood's rights to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a 2023 sixth-round pick, the teams announced Tuesday.

Blackwood, 26, is a pending restricted free agent. He posted a 10-6-2 record to go along with an .893 save percentage and a 3.20 goals-against average in 22 appearances this campaign.

The Thunder Bay, Ontario, native appeared to be New Jersey's goalie of the future at one point, finishing sixth in Calder Trophy voting in 2019-20. However, a series of injuries, combined with the emergence of Akira Schmid and Vitek Vanecek, led Blackwood to slip down the Devils' depth chart.

New Jersey now owns seven picks in the upcoming draft, including two in the sixth round.

If Blackwood re-signs with the Sharks, he'll likely compete with Kaapo Kahkonen for playing time. In 2022-23, Kahkonen shared the crease with veteran James Reimer, who's headed to unrestricted free agency.

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