Mackenzie Blackwood and Kaapo Kahkonen are expected to be the 1A, 1B tandem for the Sharks in net this season, but they’re not getting much love from the rest of the NHL. Most people leaguewide have the duo listed as among the worst goaltending tandems in the NHL. For example, Mike McKenna at The Daily Faceoff ranks the Sharks’ tandem at 30th in the NHL and asks “Is it a good idea to have two goaltending reclamation projects?”
Both Blackwood and Kahkonen have had one game so far in the preseason. For Kahkonen’s part, he started out shaky in the team’s Sept. 24 preseason victory over the Vegas Golden Knights, but he got stronger as the game went on.
Blackwood’s start a few nights later on Sept. 26 was also shaky, though he did not get much support from his defense, which, like the rest of the Sharks team did not match the intensity of the Anaheim Ducks to start the game. Like Kahkonen, he also got better as the game went on.
Both players are expected to receive one more start apiece before the season starts. Kahkonen will once again put the adjustments that he made last season and worked on in the offseason into practice. While Blackwood will continue the efforts to bring his game back to the level it was before he was beset by injuries.
Both say they’re in a good place.
Kaapo Kahkonen continues to make strides
Sharks fans got a first look at Kahkonen’s game following a summer of working out during Sunday’s preseason victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. Kahkonen had a shaky start but finished strong. He stopped 32 of 34 shots for a .941 save percentage.
The summer was a chance for the Finnish netminder to reset and really focus on his game changes. He spent some time at home in Finland, relaxing with his family and getting work done on the ice. The 27-year-old says he feels good about where he’s at now.
“I feel pretty good,” said Kahkonen after day one of camp. “Obviously, continued where I got last year this summer and we kept working on those same things and feeling good now on the ice.”
While Kahkonen may or may not have been in the best mindset at the end of last season, he sounds refreshed and in the right mental state to compete for the starting job.
“I like to think that confidence if you want to call it that, comes from working hard and working on the right things,” said Kahkonen. “I don’t know [if you’d call it] perfecting them but getting them right. And then knowing that you’re able to execute them and just going out there.
“I don’t think it’s just a feeling that you wake up with today and then tomorrow you don’t wake up with that feeling and then the next day you wake up with that feeling again,” Kahkonen continued. “I think it’s every day work and every day little details of your life. You take care of yourself. You try to prepare for the next and we’ll go from there. But certainly feeling really good.”
Mackenzie Blackwood feels physically ready for start of NHL season
For Blackwood, this season is hopefully a reset for his career. It wasn’t long ago that he was considered the netminder of the future for the New Jersey Devils. His first two seasons with the team, 2018-19, 2019-20 featured .918 and .915 save percentages. He looked like the answer for a team that was preparing to take the next step.
However, Blackwood’s play slowly fell off in the two years that followed and injuries did not help matters. For him, San Jose is a chance to turn the page and re-establish himself as a top netminder in the NHL.
“I feel like it is a fresh start. It’s exciting to me and just looking forward to starting a new chapter and getting my game to a place where I’m happy,” said Blackwood.
He has found new ways to get his body prepared for the rigors of an NHL season including a steady regimen of yoga and pilates.
“[I] just feel like that helps me feel better, day in and day out. I don’t feel tight and stuff like that. I feel like my recovery is better. So, so far, so good,” said Blackwood.
There are new voices in the room for Blackwood. Evgeni Nabokov and Ryan Miller have nearly 700 NHL wins combined and that’s something Blackwood is listening to.
“I know what I can do. I know I’m capable of that. But yeah, I think just day to day it’s the process that’s exciting the most,” said Blackwood. “Getting in there and working with Speersy and Nabby and Ryan Miller and all those guys. Just getting to help get my game to a place where it was and have a better showing.”
He believes he has something to offer to Sharks fans.
“I’m a bigger guy who, you know, can move pretty well and takes up a lot of the net. So, hopefully, coming into this year, I can continue to keep that up and then add on a few things that maybe I’ve struggled with in the past,” said Blackwood.
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