All eyes have been on top 2023 draft pick Connor Bedard, but goalies Petr Mrazek and Arvid Söderblom have been solid. Alex Vlasic, a Chicago area native, has been terrific on top defense pairing. Story with videos.
The Blackhawks have allowed nine goals in their first four games, all on the road. That works out to a 2.25 goals-against average, compared to Chicago's 3.65 (28th out of 32 NHL teams) for last season.
So while most eyes have been on top 2023 NHL draft pick Connor Bedard, the biggest difference in the Blackhawks so far has been in goal and their overall team defense.
Rebuilding Chicago finished with the NHL's third-worst record last season, at 26-49-7. But the Blackhawks were 2-2 heading into Thursday's game at Denver against the Colorado Avalanche, the finale of a tough season-opening five-city trip.
Veteran Petr Mrazek and 24-year-old Arvid Söderblom have been strong in nets as they've split Chicago's first four games. Both were 1-1.
“It would’ve been nice to give (both goalies) a little bit more goal support in the last two games, but we got it tonight, just enough,” coach Luke Richardson said after Söderblom made 35 saves in 4-1 win at Toronto on Monday. “Sodie tonight was remarkable, especially at the end of the game." See more from Richardson in the following video.
Mrazek, in the final season of a three-year, $11.4 million contract he signed before being acquired from Toronto, had a 2.54 goals-against average and .935 save percentage. He was shaky in only one stretch, during the second period of a 3-2 loss at Montréal on Saturday when the Blackhawks were outplayed and allowed three goals.
Söderblom had a 1.51 goals-against and .956 save percentage. The Swede was exceptionally sharp in lockdown mode late in Chicago's win in Toronto. The Leafs pulled goalie Joseph Woll and Toronto's top forwards, led by Auston Matthews and John Tavares, generated a wave of Grade-A chances.
Söderblom repelled them all.
“We handled it well, but you have to be on your toes,” Söderblom said. “There’s players everywhere, sticks everywhere and plays are being made, so you have to be sharp and focused.” See more in the the following video.
Söderblom signed a two-year contract last summer that pays a total of $1,925,000. He entered 2023-24 with 18 NHL games under his belt, including 15 last season.
Söderblom is the Blackhawks best bet to hold the fort while top goaltending prospect Drew Commesso gets used to the pro game with AHL Rockford starting this season.
Vlasic Stepping Up
Alex Vlasic, a 6-foot-6 defenseman from Chicago's North Shore, seems to have taken a huge step on a defense pairing with 6-foot-4 veteran Seth Jones. The 22-year-old Vlasic is a plus-5 (Jones is a plus-6) on what's emerging as the Blackhawks towering shutdown D-duo.
Vlasic improved at using his big frame to tie up and neutralize opponents in his first full pro season in 2022-23, spent mostly at Rockford of the AHL. He looked promising in a call-up to Chicago at the end of the season. Richardson has been impressed so far. See the video below.
Against Toronto, Vlasic heaved a 100-foot stretch pass from the corner of the Chicago zone to forward Corey Perry at center ice. The 38-year-old Perry broke in alone and scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal.
“(I’ve) just taken the next step as the season’s gone on," Vlasic said. "And I’m definitely going to have ups and downs, but as long as I’m headed in an upward trajectory, I should be in good shape.”
Vlasic skated three seasons for Boston University. Chicago drafted him in the second round (43rd overall) in 2019 after several years with U.S. National Development team program based in Plymouth, Michigan, outside Detroit.
Vlasic is a cousin of veteran San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Édouard Vlasic, who's in his 18th NHL season.
Vlasic is from Wilmette, Illinois, one of Chicago's wealthiest suburbs and adjacent to even tonier Winnetka, the longtime home of the Blackhawks' owners, the Wirtz Family.
But like just about any Chicago-area kid, he had to leave for better competition to advance his hockey career toward NCAA Division I play. High school hockey in Illinois is a varsity sport at only handful of (mostly Catholic) schools and at nowhere near the level of states like Minnesota or Massachusetts.