Where Does the Colorado Avalanche Goaltending Tandem Rank in the NHL?

The Colorado Avalanche goaltending is as good as it has been in years, so where do they rank among duos in the National Hockey League?

Mackenzie Blackwood with the Colorado Avalanche / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup back in 2022, they did so behind a fantastic run from veteran Darcy Kuemper, who posted a 2.57 GAA across 16 appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs that year.

Since then, the team has been chasing that reliable goaltending, turning to the likes of Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen. In 2024/25, they made a move that would change their netminding for years to come, acquiring the duo of Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood.

Colorado Avalanche Goaltending Among the Best in the NHL

Scott Wedgewood of the Colorado Avalanche / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

After a great first year, that tandem took it to a new level in 2025/26, as the game splits were 45 for Wedgewood and 39 for Blackwood, with the duo posting a 2.02 GAA (1st in the NHL) & .921 (1st in the NHL) save percentage and 2.51 (8th in the NHL) & .904 (18th in the NHL), respectively.

That helped the Avalanche to the Presidents' Trophy behind an offense that averaged 3.63 goals per game, ranking them No. 1 in the National Hockey League.

But when it mattered most, both players failed to turn up against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Finals. Still, after two seasons as a dominant tandem, the Avalanche are set in net, and as a result, they're a team that heads into the 2026/27 season as the favorite in the Western Conference once again. So now the question has to be asked: where does this tandem rank throughout the NHL?

Do the Colorado Avalanche Have the NHL's Best Goaltending Tandem?

Mackenzie Blackwood of the Colorado Avalanche / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ranking goaltending tandems in the NHL is done in one of two ways: either rank the quality of both players as potential starters, or rank the tandems based on the best player and simply slide the backup in. If the latter was the best way to do it, the Avalanche may not be top-10.

That is because on the surface, the likes of Andrei Vasilevsky, Connor Hellebuyck and Igor Shesterkin would all lead the way, but today, that's not how we're going to look at things.

Instead, we ask the question, how confident would you be in your tandem if either player had to start in a crucial game? From that lens, the Avalanche have to be seen as one of the top tandems in the National Hockey League.

Teams like Calgary (Wolf, Cooley), Winnipeg (Hellebuyck, Skinner), Montreal (Dobes, Fowler), and Washington (Thompson, Lindgren) all have fantastic tandems, but in Colorado, the team has two players they could turn to at any point for success.

Since being acquired by the Avalanche, Blackwood has played in 76 games, posting a 2.42 GAA and a .908 save percentage in that time. As for Wedgewood, he's been just as dominant, tallying a mark of .920 and 2.02 across 64 games.

Simply put, there aren't many other teams out there that have two players under a 2.45 GAA and above a .905 save percentage over the past two years.

Ultimately, if healthy, other teams would take their Vezina Trophy (and in some cases also Hart Trophy) winning goaltenders over the Avalanche tandem.

Given that the Avalanche can turn to either player and be confident they can lead them through an extended stretch without much falloff, the team should head into 2026/27 feeling as though they have the best and most rounded tandem in the league.