The Chicago Blackhawks have mostly rotated Petr Mrazek and Arvid Soderblom in the net for the 2024-25 season. Drew Commesso has also appeared on Chicago’s roster, but the two former goalies have had a bulk of the workload. Laurent Brossoit’s injury opened the door for Soderblom to be an NHL mainstay.
Last week, the Blackhawks acquired Spencer Knight in the Seth Jones trade with the Florida Panthers. He has been one of the highest touted goalie prospects in recent memory.
Knight made a wonderful first impression in his first Blackhawks start, making 41 saves on 42 shots in the win over the Los Angeles Kings. He became a fan favorite on and off the ice in one game.
Soderblom started for the Hawks in Wednesday’s overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators. He was good but a bizarre goal in the extra period was the difference.
After the game, interim head coach Anders Sorensen announced that the plan is to rotate Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom for the rest of the season.
“Spencer is going to go, and then it’s going to be him and [Soderblom] here for a little bit, see how that plays out.” Sorensen said when asked about how he will handle the goaltending down the stretch. “Whoever plays well is going to go”.
This is tough for Petr Mrazek who has been a great warrior for the Chicago Blackhawks but it is the right decision. Chicago’s youth movement is in full swing now.
“He’s a pro” was Sorensen’s response when he was asked about how Mrazek is handling this new reality. You’d expect nothing less from Petr.
Sorensen confirmed that he believes that you can’t play three goalies in the NHL and he is right. It’s hard to rotate two without a defined starter but three is borderline impossible. The hope is that Knight is the goalie of the future but Soderblom is a great option for a high-end backup.
When asked about the possibility of putting Petr Mrazek on waivers/sending him to Rockford, Sorensen just shook his head no. That doesn’t mean that they won’t explore trading him before Friday’s deadline.
With a back-to-back coming up this weekend, you can expect Knight to go on Friday against the Utah Hockey Club with Soderblom going on Saturday against the Nashville Predators.
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