For more reasons than one, Colin Blackwell has had a year to remember.
The ex-St. John’s Prep and Harvard star from North Andover, Mass., weathered ups and downs with the Seattle Kraken since being selected by the first-year franchise from the New York Rangers in last July’s Expansion Draft.
Blackwell missed training camp and the first 15 regular-season games due to a lower-body injury, postponing his debut with his new team until November. He was sidelined for another stint due to COVID-19 protocol in December, then maintained a consistent place in the Seattle lineup.
“It was disappointing that I didn’t really get a chance to build off of last year after what I’d call a bad summer,” said Blackwell, who enjoyed a career-best season with 12 goals and 22 points in 47 games for New York before serving as an alternate captain for Team USA at the 2021 IIHF World Championship in Belarus and Latvia. “The injury just set me back further than I had thought, so I got off to a slow start. I’ve been trying to continually build my game and build the trust from the players and coaching staff. I really feel comfortable right now compared to where I was earlier.”
But on March 20, Blackwell was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs with Mark Giordano in exchange for a second-round pick in 2022 and 2023 and a third-round pick in 2024. Blackwell will have the opportunity to contribute to a team that is firmly in Stanley Cup playoff position. He switched back to his old high school number, No. 11, with the Leafs, and is excited to wear the same colors — blue and white — of St. John’s Prep.
“I came out of my shell (at the Prep),” he said in his first media session in Toronto. “I was a little bit of a late blossomer. That’s where I was able to kind of take the next step, got some confidence there, and that goes a long way.”
Blackwell is likely to get time on the Leafs’ second power-play unit. “I’m a right shot, and for me, in that bumper position, I’m pretty good netfront, retrieving pucks, finding the little areas to support teammates, jumping on loose pucks and keeping plays alive,” he said. “My energy can be contagious sometimes. Bringing that to the table can do a lot of damage.”
On March 29, in Blackwell's first game in Boston against the Bruins after arriving with the Leafs, he scored a goal — his first with his new team — in a 6-4 Toronto win.
Nearing the end of his third NHL regular season with at least 27 games played, the 28-year-old Blackwell had made the most of his regular action and cracked the scoresheet more regularly in March with Seattle. He recorded three goals and five points across Seattle’s first five games in March, beginning the month with a game-winner against the Nashville Predators, the first of three NHL teams for which he has played.
It was a shorthanded goal, the first of his career and one of two he would score in a six-day span. The other came during his third multiple-point game of the season March 8 at Toronto.
“That one felt good,” Blackwell said of the goal against Nashville. “Just a team that I used to play for. Those always feel good when you feel like maybe they gave up on you. … It was a big goal late in the period. That one definitely sticks out for this year.”
The 5-foot-9, 190-pound forward formed a reliable line with Mason Appleton and center Yanni Gourde in late February while the Kraken dealt with injuries to the likes of Jaden Schwartz and Jared McCann. He had skated alongside former Bruin Karson Kuhlman earlier in the season.
“He’s been playing a really consistent game for us,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said during the team’s February visit to Boston. “He plays hard, he plays direct, and he always generates a little bit with his tenaciousness on and around the puck.”
Blackwell’s game didn’t begin that way this season. He had to overcome the challenge of being sidelined at the outset of an inaugural season and missing the opportunity that his teammates had to prove themselves. The results, however, have done the talking.
“It was difficult not being able to play, and on top of that you’re a part of history, you feel like you kind of miss out on some of it,” Blackwell said. “It’s certainly not what I envisioned when the draft came around, but you have to do what you can with the cards that you’re dealt. I just tried to stay positive and get better each day.”
While joining the expansion Kraken offered Blackwell the epitome of a fresh start, there was plenty to learn from the previous stops in his career. In his case, getting better meant using his time in COVID protocol around Christmas to reflect on how he helped the Rangers have success a year ago while playing alongside the likes of veteran Chris Kreider (Boxford, Mass.) and former Harvard defenseman and reigning Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox.
“It’s two different stories and a different opportunity, but some of the things I saw from last year were just protecting the puck a bit more and going to the right areas,” Blackwell said. “If you’re in the right places and play the right way, you eventually get rewarded for it. It doesn’t always come easy. … If you’re in a slump or you’re not playing the scoring role, there are other things that can help contribute to the team that can transition to your offensive game.”
Blackwell was one of seven Kraken skaters on pace to set career highs in scoring at the 60-game mark of the season. Another was former Harvard star Ryan Donato (Scituate, Mass.) who, along with goaltender Joey Daccord (North Andover, Mass.), had created a bit of a Boston pipeline in the Pacific Northwest.
“I had never met Joey even though we’re from the same hometown, and I played with Ryan in college and his dad (Ted) was my coach,” Blackwell said. “That made things so much easier because we had some instant chemistry and things in common going into a situation where nobody knew what was going to unfold.”
Less than a week before playing his first Kraken game in Boston, Blackwell surpassed the 100-game mark for his NHL career. The various milestones that have come up throughout this season allowed Blackwell to reflect a bit on his personal hockey journey, beginning with four seasons in the Massachusetts high school ranks — including two as a captain at St. John’s — and another four at Harvard.
“It means a lot to me to reach that (100-game) milestone having gone through everything I have,” Blackwell said, referring to missing nearly two calendar years of action at Harvard due to a concussion scare.
“I think I’ve always played with a little chip on my shoulder and wear the Massachusetts thing on my sleeve because you see the path that a lot of kids take now. It was really important to me to play in the Super 8, the Beanpot, et cetera. I think if you stay and play in a situation where you can develop and grow, it’s definitely important, and it certainly was for me.”
