Behind the Scenes of How Sharks Found Out About Blackwood Trade: ‘We all love him in here’

RALEIGH, N.C. — “It was a somber afternoon.”

Nico Sturm shared how the San Jose Sharks found out about the Mackenzie Blackwood trade to the Colorado Avalanche.

The Sharks had just practiced at Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, right before a flight to Raleigh.

Blackwood was a full participant in a hard, hour-long practice, and it looked like business as usual for a San Jose squad that was trying to keep its spirits up after back-to-back lopsided losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers. Jake Walman, for example, tried to engage Mario Ferraro in a play-fight in a lighter moment on the ice.

“After practice, we all went on the bus,” Sturm said after Tuesday morning skate at Lenovo Center, before the Sharks take on the Carolina Hurricanes tonight. “Bus doesn’t leave, something’s going on, you hear some rumors, and then, I think Warso talked to the leadership group and find out, made a trade.”

San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky shared, “When Blacky gets traded, it was right in front of the bus, and every guy got off the bus and gave him a hug.”

None of this was for show: Mackenzie Blackwood was genuinely beloved in the Sharks locker room, which GM Mike Grier spoke to yesterday.

Alternate captain Ferraro, much the same way himself, appreciated Blackwood’s relentless positivity through two tough seasons. The Sharks have won just 29 of their last 112 games since Blackwood joined the team in the summer of 2023.

“When the season may not be going your way, which happens to every team, you need guys to be positive and stay positive and believe in the group,” Ferraro said. “He was always someone that did that and then went out there and played his heart out for us and gave us a chance.”

“Infectious guy, always positive attitude, a smile, cracking jokes. Knows when to work hard. Knows when to keep it a little looser when it’s needed,” Sturm said.

“I was really close with him,” Ferraro added. “A lot of guys were, he was a team guy, great teammate, great guy to spend some time off the ice with.”

Those good vibes reached even Yaroslav Askarov, who Blackwood knew was in line to eventually take his job as San Jose Sharks starter.

After the 22-year-old super prospect’s first win as a Shark and first NHL assist on Nov. 25 against the Los Angeles Kings, Blackwood, who backed up Askarov that night, could be heard telling his understudy in the locker room post-game, “You’re like Bobby Orr back there with the puck!”

“Loves when the boys do well, just loves the guys. He’s a great team guy,” Jake Walman said. “Any team is pretty lucky to have a guy like that.”

And of course, Blackwood kept the rebuilding San Jose Sharks in a lot of games that they had no business being in over the last two years.

Exhibit A, Blackwood’s debut in teal last year, a 51-save 2-1 shootout loss to the Avs. Exhibit B, Blackwood’s last game as a Sharks, a 51-save 3-1 defeat to the Florida Panthers.

Mackenzie Blackwood appreciation tweet: He is the only goaltender in @NHL history who made 50 saves or more in both his first and last games for a team. He is also the first goalie in #SJSharks history to make 50+ saves in more than one game. He will do well in COL. A great guy.

— Dan Rusanowsky (@DanRusanowsky) December 10, 2024

“Obviously, he’s had our back. I think you saw it last game,” Sturm said. “Bailed us out big time.”

“Obviously, you know what he did for our group,” Ferraro said. “He competed every night. He kept us in a lot of games.”

But like Grier alluded to yesterday, Blackwood played his way out of San Jose. There’s a reason why Colorado, eyeing a deep playoff run, wanted the talented netminder. The rebuilding Sharks didn’t necessarily need to lock up an overperforming 28-year-old UFA-to-be goaltender to a long contract, especially with Askarov waiting in the wings.

“We all love him in here, and obviously he’ll be missed,” alternate captain Luke Kunin said. “Like everyone says, that’s an unfortunate part of the business.”

It’s Warsofsky’s job to find the silver linings in a somber day, and he did.

“Just like we did when we lost Matt Benning, high character people that we lose, we gotta move forward, and it almost has to bring us closer together,” he said. “That’s the type of group we have, I think they love each other and they’re brothers, and it’s painful when those decisions happen, and the business side comes out. But we got to move forward.”

Sturm was part of the 2022 Stanley Cup-winning Avalanche, and he’s looking forward to that for Blackwood.

“I texted him yesterday, bummed to see him go, good friend, but I told him, I’m excited for him, going to a world-class organization, top-to-bottom, very structured,” Sturm shared. “I told him he’ll be a better player for it at the end of the day, you leave practices every day, you leave the rink thinking, you got better because of the quality of the organization, the coaches, the players.”

Frankly, that’s not the San Jose Sharks, yet. Which is why there will be more sad days like this coming for the cellar-dwellers, from now until the Mar. 7 Trade Deadline.

But as the song goes, first cut is the deepest.