Perhaps Chris MacFarland is an avid Denver Gazette reader after all.

On Thursday morning, the Colorado Avalanche signed backup goaltender Scott Wedgewood to a one-year extension to a deal that will see him carry a $2.5 million cap hit next season. Wedgewood’s hot start, combined with young prospect Ilya Nabokov’s struggles this season in Russia, made this a priority for the organization, which wanted to keep a good situation going in net.

The 33-year-old Wedgewood is off to a tremendous start this season with a 10-1-2 record and a .913 save percentage.

“I think it’s well deserved,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of the extension. “Loved his play last year and what he did, and then this year he’s … I don’t want to say taken it to a new level, but I think the importance of him being solid in the net for us to this part in the season with (Blackwood) out is obviously key.”

For Wedgewood, the temptation to test free agency and potentially have a team give him an opportunity as a full-time starter was there, but he was comfortable in the spot he was in and didn’t want to mess with what’s working.

“Honestly, the start (to the season), it makes you think, and I’m a realist, looking at it from all sides, right?” Wedgewood said. “With Blackwood being a 50-to-60 game guy and getting 30 starts, I want my situation as the situation that I’m in. 33, haven’t really been a starter, haven’t really been categorized as a starter. Always want to be, it’s never out of the question…it’s probably the best spot in the league to be a 1A, 1B with (Blackwood) and everything that comes with it. It’s a perfect situation.”

With Blackwood and Wedgewood now locked in for another year, Colorado is set in net. Next season, the two will combine for $7.75 million against the salary cap, which isn’t a bad number to be around.

This also means the Avalanche can take things slow with Nabokov, who they are really high on. The 22-year-old has had a tough start to the season in the KHL and is set to arrive in North America once his current season in Russia ends. It’s now likely that he spends next season in the American Hockey League.

“We’ve got Nabokov coming, we’ve got Blackwood locked in, but Nabokov’s never played in North America or the NHL,” Bednar said. “Good prospect and has some growth that he still needs in his game. When you get a guy that wants to be here and fits in your room and fits in your culture and then performs like this on the ice, the natural progression is to try and get him locked up.”

For Wedgewood, who has a young daughter and another child on the way, knowing where he was going to be played a big role in extending for one more season.

Playing on a team as good as the Avalanche doesn’t hurt either.

“Just a chance to win (excites me),” Wedgewood said. “It’s just been a perfect fit for me.”