Arvid Soderblom’s job in Chicago has never been the glamorous one, and this season made that crystal clear. As Spencer Knight settled in as the Blackhawks’ clear No.
1, Soderblom had to live in the backup lane, staying ready without the luxury of rhythm. That’s a tough assignment for any goalie, and his 2025-26 numbers reflected the strain: 8-13-3 in 26 appearances, a .880 save percentage, a 3.80 goals-against average, and one shutout.
There were real high points mixed into the turbulence. On Nov.
9, Soderblom turned aside 45 of 46 shots in a 5-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. He was even sharper on Mar. 24, stopping 44 of 47 in a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders.
Then came the milestone moment on Mar. 1, when he posted his first career shutout by stopping all 22 shots in a 4-0 win over the Utah Mammoth.
But the rough nights hit hard, too. Chicago was beaten 9-3 by the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 21, 7-1 by the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 7, and 7-3 by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec.
- There were eight games in which Soderblom allowed five or more goals, and when he did struggle, his puck tracking and rebound control were part of the problem.
The Blackhawks didn’t pin everything on him, either. Late in the season, head coach Jeff Blashill pointed to a few especially ugly outings that dragged down the stat line.
He said, “In his case, honestly, we had a couple really, really bad games where he was in the net, and I think that kind of crushed the numbers. I left him in in Buffalo; that didn’t help his numbers.”
Still, the bigger picture hasn’t changed much. Soderblom has been Chicago’s backup for the last three seasons, and over that stretch he owns a combined .886 save percentage and 3.63 goals-against average. This past season was also a step back from 2024-25, when he finished with a .898 save percentage and a 3.18 goals-against average.
He’s under contract through the 2026-27 season with a $2.75 million cap hit, and the expectation is that he’ll back up Knight again next season. But there’s pressure building behind him. Rockford IceHogs goalie Drew Commesso signed a two-year extension this offseason, and he’ll be pushing for a bigger role.
Soderblom, though, has the kind of temperament teams want in a goalie. Knight described him this way: “He’s very quiet, but he’s got a work ethic that’s really great.” And Soderblom’s own words after the Mar. 24 win showed the mindset he leans on.
You gotta keep doing the stuff you’re doing every day. Just keep playing your game, even though you get a lot of shots and sometimes you might be a little tired. But then it’s even more important to just stay in there and keep battling, and just have the focus up all the way and not let the focus slip away.
Blashill was just as direct about what Soderblom brings, saying ahead of the Apr. 11 game against the St. Louis Blues:
I’m totally comfortable where his game is at, comfortable that when we put him in in certain games, I have belief that he’s gonna give us a chance to win, like everybody else, some nights he’s played better than other nights. But I would put a lot of it is you get a lot of tough starts when you’re a backup.
When you’re a backup of a team that’s first in the league, it’s easier on those tough starts. When you’re backing up a team who’s climbing out of a rebuild like we are, that’s way harder, and so it stresses them way more. I’ve been around different teams and seen a lot of different guys in his role, and he’s got the skillset and the mental makeup to be real good at it.
That was enough for a C grade. Soderblom was serviceable in a difficult role, but the numbers still tell the story: he has never posted a save percentage above .900 in the NHL. With another season ahead, a potentially stronger team in front of him, and Commesso adding pressure from below, 2026-27 is shaping up as a big prove-it year.
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