It takes Mackenzie Blackwood a moment to warm up the first time you sit down to chat with him. He gets a read on the conversation before answering anything in depth, remaining polite but disengaged until he’s gotten a feel for how things are going to go.



It’s not a characteristic typical of a goaltender — goalies are often the most open in media interviews — but it fits with his style of play.



The sense of calm he’s shown between the pipes, since being called up to the New Jersey Devils in mid-December, is also atypical. Blackwood, a native of Thunder Bay, Ontario who spent three years starting for the OHL’s Barrie Colts before moving to the Devils’ AHL affiliate, just turned 22. In goaltender years, he’s still in the infancy of his pro career, far from the point when most players at his position hit their stride in the best league in the world.



Blackwood, drafted by the Devils in the second round of the 2015...