Colorado finally made a big move to address their goaltending woes. On Monday afternoon, the Avalanche sent Alexandar Georgiev and Nikolai Kovalenko to San Jose in exchange for Mackenzie Blackwood and Givani Smith. The Avalanche also gave up a second-round pick in next year's draft, as shown below.

Givani Smith is a physical player with a specific skillset that isn't in high demand these days. His role wasn't required in San Jose as he was averaging just six minutes a game and was recently placed on waivers. I don't expect him to have much of a fantasy impact now that he's in the Avs' organization.

Nikolai Kovalenko had some success in the KHL last season, posting 35 points in 42 games, but that level of offense didn't really translate in Colorado where he had eight points through 28 games.  Now, he only saw limited action with the Avalanche, so there's potential for him to be more productive in San Jose.

From a fantasy perspective, the main players of interest here are obviously Alexandar Georgiev and Mackenzie Blackwood. It doesn't take a genius to tell you that this move is an upgrade for Blackwood and Colorado, and a downgrade for Georgiev and the Sharks, but let's take a closer look to understand why.

First, the claim that Blackwood is an upgrade over Georgiev. To unpack this more, here's a thread from stats expert JFresh about how 'goals saved above expected (GSAx)' helps us understand a goaltender's individual performance by accounting for shot quality – something that a traditional stat like save percentage doesn't quite capture.

With both netminders playing about 20 games this season, Blackwood boasts 6.41 goals saved above expected, which ranks 15^th in the league. In contrast, Georgiev sits 68^th with a GSAx of negative 6.67 (via EvolvingHockey).

Last season provides us with a larger sample as Blackwood played 44 games and Georgiev featured in 63. Still, we see a similar trend, with Blackwood saving 11 goals above expected while Georgiev finished with a GSAx of -0.21.

So, both this season and last season, Blackwood has been significantly better than Georgiev.

Now, onto the claim that Colorado is an upgrade over San Jose defensively. At even strength this season, San Jose has the third highest expected goals against per 60 minutes at 3.15. Colorado is better, but not by as wide a margin as you might think. The Avalanche sit seven spots back with an xGA/60 of 2.8 (via NaturalStatTrick). Now, Considering the injuries they battled to start the year, and the fact that they were a solid defensive team last season, I'm inclined to believe Colorado can improve as the campaign progresses. The Avs' offense is also much better than San Jose's, which means Blackwood should have an easier time racking up wins for his new team.

Colorado retained 14% of Georgiev's contract in this trade, putting his cap hit just under $3 million, which is still less than Blackwood's $2.35 million deal. Both netminders are unrestricted free agents after this season.

Given his individual talent and the improved team in front of him, I think Blackwood will be a valuable fantasy asset the rest of the way. The 28-year-old netminder is still available in most fantasy leagues as I write this, so check your waiver wire if you need goaltending help. Not to be lost in all this is the fact that Scott Wedgewood, who Colorado recently acquired from Nashville, is coming off an impressive shutout against the Devils. I personally think Blackwood is the more talented option and that he should emerge as the 1A while Wedgewood settles into a 1B role, but Blackwood does have a history of injuries, which could open the door for Wedgewood. Speaking of which, Blackwood won't be making his Avs debut in Pittsburgh on Tuesday as he's currently under the weather.

With Blackwood out of the picture, and only two struggling goalies (Georgiev and Vitek Vanecek) ahead of him in the depth chart, 22-year-old Yaroslav Askarov, the 11^th pick of the 2020 draft, has a clearer path to the Sharks' starting role. He's been dominating the AHL and was solid in his two starts for San Jose this year, so he could be back with the big club sooner than later.

This should help…

Avalanche skaters in the plus/minus category

Mackenzie Blackwood

Yaroslav Askarov

This might hurt…

Sharks' skaters in the plus/minus category

Alexandar Georgiev

Scott Wedgewood