What are the Avalanche’s plans in net?

As the Colorado Avalanche try to improve on a Presidents’ Trophy-winning 2025-26 campaign that saw them get swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the third round, some are wondering where the Avalanche stand in the crease.

On the Sept. 2 episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton are joined by Jesse Montano of Guerilla Sports to discuss the Avs’ goaltending and what the future holds for both MacKenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood.

Carter Hutton: At what point does the patience wear thin about Blackwood being that outright No. 1 guy that will win you a Stanley Cup — when the likes of Connor Hellebuyck is being thrown around, and when you have a window of Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, how long do they sit pat with this goalie duo?

Jesse Montano: I have wondered out loud to a couple people this summer about the Avs as a way dark-horse option on the Hellebuyck stuff. It sounds like they at least kicked tires earlier this season.

I don’t know, that’s a stretch. But … it was a weird situation last year, because Blackwood starts the season with an injury that came up during the offseason, late in the summer, and he had to miss the start of the 2025-26 season. Wedgewood, credit to him, he came in and was fantastic to start the year.

When we talk to Blackwood when he first came back, he actually said: “It was really nice of Wedgewood to do that, it took the pressure off me in feeling like I had to rush to get back. I could take my time with my rehab and just get back into the rhythm that helped me feel good.”

Well, in doing that, Wedgewood put the Avs in a situation where it’s like, how do you deny how well he’s playing? The numbers he’s putting up, the consistency he’s playing with. It kind of forced the Avs in this situation where, well, I don’t think Bednar foresaw them having a 1A and 1B goalie.

It just got to a point in 2025-26 where Wedgewood’s play forced him into the conversation. When the playoffs ended, Blackwood was — not in a hateful or aggressive way — but he made it clear that it was hard for him to step in when he didn’t get a chance to play. He didn’t get the rhythm, then he was called on to save the season in the playoffs. He made it clear he wanted to play more, and Bednar alluded to the fact that, yeah, they want to find more consistency with what’s going on in net.

Look, I say this as someone who thinks very highly of Wedgewood and how he’s played and his attitude … I think you need to come into this year saying, “Blackwood, this is your net, you are the guy, we’re behind you.” He’s a guy who likes to play, he likes the consistency … he likes to feel the puck and he doesn’t like sitting out long stretches, then having to come in and find that rhythm again.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…