NHL Player News

General manager Chris MacFarland said Monday that Blackwood won't join the Avalanche ahead of Tuesday's road game in Pittsburgh since the netminder is feeling under the weather, Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette reports.

Blackwood was traded from the Sharks to the Avalanche on Monday, but he'll have to wait until at least Thursday's home game against Utah before he can make his team debut. Scott Wedgewood will likely operate as Colorado's starting netminder against the Penguins on Tuesday.

Soderblom will tend the twine on the road against the Rangers on Monday, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Timesreports.

Soderblom is mired in a five-game losing streak -- he's actually won just once in eight games this year -- despite posting a decent 2.75 GAA and .906 save percentage during the skid. While New York has won just two of its last nine contests, the team still possesses a talented forward group that should put plenty of shots on Soderblom.

San Jose acquired Georgiev, Nikolai Kovalenko, a 2026 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round selection from Colorado on Monday in exchange for Mackenzie Blackwood, Givani Smith and a 2027 fifth-round draft choice.

Georgiev has posted a record of 8-7-0 with a 3.38 GAA and an .874 save percentage in 18 appearances this season. He is eligible for unrestricted free agency at the end of the 2024-25 campaign. If Georgiev continues to struggle with the Sharks, he could get pushed for playing time by Vitek Vanecek.

Blackwood, Givani Smith and a 2027 fifth-round pick were traded from the Sharks to the Avalanche on Monday in exchange for Alexandar Georgiev, Nikolai Kovalenko, a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 second-round pick.

After splitting time in the net with Vitek Vanecek early in the 2024-25 campaign, Blackwood had been operating as the Sharks' No. 1 goaltender in recent weeks. He was decent over his last 10 outings, posting a 2.91 GAA and .908 save percentage, but he had to settle for a 3-5-1 record during that time. He'll now compete for playing time in Colorado with Scott Wedgewood, who was traded to the Avalanche at the end of November and has recorded a 2-1-0 record, 1.44 GAA and .951 save percentage over his first three appearances with his new team.

Comrie stopped 24 of 27 shots in Sunday's 4-1 loss to Columbus. The fourth goal was an empty-netter in the third period.

Comrie has dropped his last four starts, and the underlying numbers aren't optimistic either, as he's failed to post a save percentage above the .900 mark in three of those contests. The 29-year-old has gone 3-4-0 with a 3.05 GAA and a .901 save percentage this season, but there's no question he's been trending in the wrong direction of late.

Merzlikins stopped 24 of 25 shots in Sunday's 4-1 win over Winnipeg.

Merzlikins was outstanding Sunday and managed to get back to winning ways after losing his previous two starts. Merzlikins has posted solid numbers in recent weeks, going 7-2-1 with a 2.89 GAA and an .890 save percentage over his last 10 games. The save percentage could have been higher if he hadn't endured a three-game stretch between Nov. 21 and Nov. 27 in which he gave up 14 goals on 89 shots.

Forsberg gave up three goals and stopped nine shots in Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Islanders. The fourth goal was an empty-netter with 51 seconds left in the third period.

Forsberg made his first start since a 5-2 loss to the Kings on Nov. 30, and he had another subpar performance. He has posted a save percentage below the .890 mark in his last five appearances, going 1-4-0 with a 3.26 GAA and an .862 save percentage in that span.

Allen (undisclosed) is questionable for Tuesday's home game against Toronto.

Allen surrendered three goals on 22 shots in Sunday's 4-0 loss to Colorado. He has a 5-4-1 record with a 2.74 GAA and a .900 save percentage through 10 appearances this season. Allen is being evaluated Monday to determine if he can dress as the backup behind Jacob Markstrom against the Maple Leafs. If the 34-year-old Allen is unavailable, New Jersey will probably summon a goaltender from the minors.

Markstrom will serve as the starting goaltender for Tuesday's home game against the Maple Leafs.

Markstrom has earned wins in his last three starts, posting a 2.33 GAA and .919 save percentage during that time. He'll attempt to keep his momentum going Tuesday against the Maple Leafs, who are averaging 2.96 goals per game this season.

Sorokin stopped 29 of 31 shots in Sunday's 4-2 win over the Senators.

Thanks to this 29-save performance, Sorokin has now recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this season. Even though the 29-year-old Russian netminder has been wildly inconsistent, the recent signs show marked improvement. He's gone 3-1-1 with a 2.34 GAA and a .916 save percentage over his last five starts, and that percentage could be even higher if it hadn't been for a 5-2 loss to Seattle, in which he gave up four goals on just 13 shots on Thursday.