Being on a bad team shouldn't dismiss a goaltenders' stats. It of course plays a part, but Spencer Knight has a 2.62 GAA and a .910 SV% while the Chicago Blackhawks just reached the .500 mark after a recent good stretch in which he hasn't even played all of the games. In total, the Blackhawks have won 19 of 45 games and Knight has 13 of those wins.
Now Arvid Soderblom has regressed from last season where his play earned him a contract and a spot on the Blackhawks. He went from third-string AHL goalie after a rough start to his NHL career, got another shot with Laurent Brossoit's injury last season, and signed a two-year deal. He's 5-7-1 with a 3.87 GAA and .873 SV% to go along with a -4.94 GSAx (goals saved above expected). Knight has a 7.94 GSAx.
The Blackhawks have drafted and acquired good young talent in net for the future. They aren't yet ready to compete, but their recent hot stretch has some thinking they could hang around the playoff bubble deep into the season after the season started to look lost.
With illnesses to Knight and Soderblom, Drew Commesso and Stanislav Berezhnoy have been recalled. Commesso is the goalie who has gotten both starts though, and in his recent game, posted a very impressed shutout. Commesso is 23 and has posted a .909 SV% in 19 AHL games this season, a .911 SV% in 39 games last season, and a .906 SV% in 36 games the season prior. He has done what he needs to at the AHL level, and with Soderblom playing the way he has, it's a no-brainer to at least keep Commesso up and in some action for now.
There could be space on the roster to hold three goalies, or just demote Soderblom. Better goalies have been demoted over the course of the past year and come back stronger. Soderblom doesn't hold any trade value right now, and it's clear that he is on the way out one way or another. He may only be 26 years old and having a bad season, or last season could have been the anomaly. Commesso, Berezhnoy, and Adam Gajan won't allow Soderblom a job in Chicago for long.
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