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Devils sign Mackenzie Blackwood to 3-year, $8.4 million contract

Mackenzie Blackwood contract

NEWARK, NJ - JANUARY 04: New Jersey Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (29) makes a save during the National Hockey League game between the New Jersey Devils and the Colorado Avalanche on January 4, 2020 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The New Jersey Devils officially have their goalie duo set.

The team announced on Wednesday morning that it has re-signed goalie Mackenzie Blackwood to a three-year contract that will pay him $8.4 million. That works out to a salary cap hit of $2.8 million per season. Blackwood was a restricted free agent.

“Mackenzie is going to be one of the key young, core pieces for this organization for a long time and we are excited and extremely happy to have him under contract,” general manager Tom Fitzgerald said in a team statement. “He’s obviously shown that he can be a number one goalie, and the sky’s the limit for him.”

As part of the contract he will earn $1.475 million in salary this season, $2.8 million next season, and $4.125 million in year three of the contract.

Blackwood, 24, appeared in 47 games for the Devils during the 2019-20 season with a .915 save percentage and took over the starting job. That performance earned him a sixth-place finish in the Calder Trophy voting for the league’s Rookie Of The Year. He has a .916 save percentage in 70 career games over parts of two seasons. Expect him to be one of the breakout candidates in the league this season.

[Related: ProHockeyTalk’s 2020 NHL Free Agency Tracker]

He will share the crease with veteran Corey Crawford who was signed in free agency earlier this offseason. That duo could be good enough to keep the Devils competitive in a tough division, and take what was at the start of last season their biggest weakness and turn it into a strength. Crawford had a .917 save percentage in 40 starts with the Chicago Blackhawks. Both goalies finished in the top of the league in overall save percentage. Together they will account for $6.7 million of salary cap space over the next two seasons.

This is also a really good deal for the Devils against the salary cap, and could become a steal in a year or two if Blackwood continues to play the way he has so far in his career. Just for comparisons sake, that $2.8 million salary cap number is nearly $800,000 less than what Tristan Jarry received (a goalie with a similar number of starts, and a lower career save percentage) earlier this offseason from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.