Article courtesy of www.devils.nhl.com

The Devils selected Mackenzie Blackwood with their second-round pick, 42nd overall, at the 2015 NHL Draft.

Blackwood finished with the fourth-most wins in the OHL in 2014-15 with the Barrie Colts, posting a 33-14-2 record with a 3.09 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and two shutouts in 51 appearances. For the second consecutive season, Blackwood’s numbers improved in the postseason (2.88 GAA, .922 SV%) before Barrie fell to North Bay in the second round of the OHL playoffs.

• In his rookie season with the Colts, Blackwood was named to the OHL First All-Rookie Team after going 23-15-2 with a 2.98 goals-against average, .902 save percentage and one shutout in 45 appearances. In 10 playoff games that season, he improved on his regular-season numbers with a 2.61 goals-against average and .904 save percentage, helping Barrie advance to the second round.

• He became a goaltender by chance, when at age 12 the netminder on his local minor hockey team missed some time and Blackwood filled in. According to Blackwood: “Before I knew it, I was right there with goalies that had been doing it three, four or five years before I had started.”

• A large, quick goaltender, Blackwood compares his game to Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators and Mike Smith of the Arizona Coyotes. His favorite NHL player is Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens.

NHL Central Scouting’s Al Jensen:

“He takes a calm and relaxed approach and has excellent positional play. He has a butterfly style with great low net coverage and controlled lateral movements.”

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