Before this season began for the Blackhawks, the expectation from just about everyone was that Chicago would struggle between the pipes. The combination of veteran Petr Mrazek and Arvid Soderblom wasn’t expected to be a highlight of the young team trying to find itself.
Now one-third of the way through the season, that prediction was only half right. The 31-year-old Mrazek has been excellent as goaltender in 16 appearances with a save percentage of .912. His game is at its peak currently, as he logged almost seven full periods on the ice without allowing a single goal before his second-straight shutout bid was snuffed out late in Saturday’s win. With his contract expiring at the end of this year, Mrazek may be playing his way into a few more years in Chicago.
Soderblom, on the other hand, has been less than spectacular. He’s won just two of his 13 appearances and carries a goals-against average of 3.66 with a save percentage of just .882. Sure, the defense in front of him is less than spectacular, but he’s been inconsistent, to say the least.
With Soderblom clearly hurting his team’s chances of winning, and potentially hurting his confidence, the Blackhawks wouldn’t be foolish to consider moving on from the 24-year-old, sending him back to get some more experience at the AHL level. More than a few fans and even experts have called for such a move. However, if Chicago were to move in a different direction, who would they get to join Mrazek at the NHL level?
From Within
If the Blackhawks were to fill Soderblom’s role from within, the first man up would likely be Jaxson Stauber. The 24-year-old is in his second season in Rockford and played in six games for the Blackhawks last year. However, there’s a reason Soderblom is the 24-year-old that Chicago turned into a full-time NHLer this year. Stauber has been struggling this year and has posted nearly identical numbers at the AHL level to Soderblom’s in the NHL. Bringing him up at this point in his career wouldn’t do much good.
Further down the pipeline, players like Drew Commesso or Adam Gajan aren’t anywhere close to being ready for the big show, either. Chicago hopes Commesso will be their goaltender of the future, but he just began his professional career and may not even be ready next year. If either player were to take Soderblom’s spot, they’d undoubtedly struggle even more than Soderblom and potentially risk hurting their confidence and hampering their development.
Via Trade
If the Blackhawks aren’t able to replace Soderblom from within the organization, one could argue they should search elsewhere, perhaps via a trade. The list of netminders on the trading block is a long one. However, prying an NHL-worthy goalie from any team wouldn’t be easy. The Blackhawks would have to give up a significant package of picks, players, or both, which would be a terrible idea for a rebuilding team. Chicago is still years away from competing for a championship, no matter who is between the pipes. Any acquisition’s contract would expire before this team is ready, rendering the move nearly pointless.
Soderblom is just 24 years old and has only played 31 NHL games in his career, so he needs more time to develop and learn. But even if the Blackhawks are ready to move on, in what direction would they go? At least for now, any other option doesn’t make sense for Chicago, so Soderblom isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
