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Buffalo Sabres Potential Draft Picks: Mackenzie Blackwood

By Melissa Kania

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Top NHL Draft prospect Mackenzie Blackwood is known today for his goaltending skills; as the top netminder ranked by NHL Central Scouting entering the 2015 NHL Draft, Blackwood’s name has been on many lips as of lately.

Though goaltenders don’t often get picked too high in the draft, Blackwood should easily be one of the first, if not the first, netminders picked this coming weekend in Sunrise.

Blackwood, 18, hails from Thunder Bay, Ontario and has spent the last two seasons tending the net for the OHL’s Barrie Colts.

He enters the 2015 NHL Draft ranked #1 by NHL Central Scouting among North American goaltenders, was ranked #35 by TSN’s Bob McKenzie and #39 by Hockeyprospect.com.

He finished his sophomore season in Barrie with the fourth-most wins in the OHL, sporting an overall 33-14-2 record in the regular season. Blackwood had a 3.09 goals-against average and .906 save percentage. He also put up a 2.88 GAA and .922 save percentage in the playoffs.

This season, Blackwood also appeared in one game for the OHL’s Jr. Super Series.

"“A goalie who stays calm, cool, and collected in all situations, whether down by five or leading by ten. Knows his game inside and out, and never panics….. At the end of the day, you can never complain when you have a goalie who tries as hard, and plays as consistently, as Mackenzie Blackwood. (Curtis Joe, EP 2014)"

Blackwood began his OHL career with the Colts with a bang in the 2013-14 season, being named t0 the OHL First All-Rookie Team and racking up a 23-15-2 record, 2.98 GAA and .902 save percentage. He also had a 2.61 GAA and .904 save percentage as the Colts reached the second round of the OHL playoffs.

The intriguing story with Blackwood is that he hasn’t been playing goaltender for very long; in fact, it was only at the age of 12 that he began playing netminder, but he’s quickly risen to the top of the ranks in his position.

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Nowadays, he compares his game to Pekka Rinne and Mike Smith.

Blackwood, of course, attended the recent NHL combine held in Buffalo prior to the NHL Draft; he also attended Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence goaltending camp in Etobicoke, as one of three OHL U-20 goaltenders invited.

One factor that’s been pointed out with Blackwood is his size.

“At 6-foot-4, Blackwood has the frame of a bigger goalie, and the speed and agility that complements his size and makes him difficult to beat,” says Evan Sporer of NHL.com in the above linked article.

Prior to his time in Barrie, Blackwood spent one season with the Elmira Sugar Kings of the GOJHL (Elmira, Ontario, that is), where he put up a 3.39 GAA and .911 save percentage in 24 games during the 2012-13 season. He also played with the Thunder Bay Kings Mn Midget AAA club in 2011-12.

For comparison’s sake, and as a precursor to this weekend, here’s how high goaltenders have been picked in the past few years. These are the first goaltenders picked in each of their respective NHL Drafts:

  • 2014 – Mason McDonald – 34th overall
  • 2013 – Zachary Fucale – 36th overall
  • 2012 – Andrei Vasilevskiy – 19th overall*
  • 2011 – Magnus Hellberg – 38th overall
  • 2010 – Jack Campbell – 11th overall*
  • 2009 – Mikko Koskinen – 31st overall
  • 2008 – Chet Pickard – 18th overall*
  • 2007 – Joel Gistedt – 36th overall

*Note that 2008, 2010 and 2012 are the only years in the past eight that have seen two goaltenders be selected in the first round of the NHL Draft. After Vasilevskiy came Malcolm Subban, chosen with the 24th overall selection. After Campbell came Mark Visentin, 27th overall. After Pickard came Thomas McCollum, 30th overall.

Going back a little further, 2006 was a very interesting year for goaltenders, as not one, not two, but FOUR goaltenders were selected in round one of the NHL Draft: Jonathan Bernier, Riku Helenius, Semyon Varlamov and Leland Irving.

What will happen this weekend?

Next: Sabres Announce Development Camp

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