Arvid Söderblom will look to secure Blackhawks backup goalie spot in 2026-27

Arvid Söderblom has been the Chicago Blackhawks' full-time backup goaltender for the past three seasons. But next season will test him more.

There is a bit of a goalie logjam behind No. 1 Spencer Knight, and heading into the final year of his two-year contract extension, he'll be looking to solidify his spot further.

That will be the basis of his storyline for 2026-27.

Söderblom's highs and lows last season

Söderblom worked his way up on the Blackhawks from being an undrafted free agent signing to the backup goalie spot, where they viewed him and Knight as a 1A/1B option.

Last season, Söderblom's stats were not quite ideal, going 8-13-3 in 24 starts, with a save percentage of .880 and a goals-against average of 3.80. But numbers don't always provide context.

Head coach Jeff Blashill talked about his numbers in March: "The thing I'd like to look at, and I haven't totally dove into this yet, but is more of a game-by-game kind of thing. Like, sometimes for a goaltender, your numbers can get crushed on a few starts... 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 his numbers. I left him in in Buffalo, you know, that doesn't help his numbers. So I think there's a deeper look into the numbers. And I'm not going to sit here and say they're accurate or not accurate. I'd want to dive deeper into it. Something I'll do after the year.

"But again... statistically speaking, you want the biggest sample size you can, and obviously when you play 25 games, it's not that big a sample size. If you take out maybe his best games and his worst games. What does that look like? Numbers-wise, I don't know that answer. I liked his game. I think he's done a good job. of... the job as a backup is very difficult. You have to have a certain mental makeup for it. I've seen guys thrive in it, and I've seen guys not thrive in it. And he's somebody that I know can thrive in that role.”

There were some nights Söderblom struggled. There were also nights when the team in front of him didn't help. But he also had his bright spots. Last season, he got his first career shutout, and he also reached 100 career starts.

I spoke with Söderblom a few days after his first shutout in April and asked him what was working for him, as he also mentioned before that he felt he had taken a step in the right direction after the Olympic break.

His response gives insight into when he's at his best: "I think I've just been playing my game and doing what I'm good at, just being calm in net and trying to hold on to as many pucks as possible, and, yeah, make those extra saves when needed, and just being a reliable goaltender that the team can rely on every night. So I think just playing my game. It's been working out good lately."

How Söderblom can maintain his spot

I also asked him about his confidence heading into the summer: "I feel confident. I feel comfortable with my game. I know what I'm able to do, and I know how good I am. And I feel like, yeah, going into the summer, I'm just gonna keep working on my game and trying to improve in all areas, and come back next year and be even better. That's the mindset I have."

Blashill also expressed a similar sense of comfort with Söderblom in net, too.

"I'm totally comfortable where his games at; comfortable that when we put him in in certain games, that I have belief that he's gonna give us a chance to win. Like everybody else, you know, some nights he's played better than other nights, but I would put a lot of it as you get a lot of tough starts when you're the backup, and when you're a backup of a team that's first in the league, it's easier on those tough starts. When you're (backup) with a team who's climbing out of a rebuild like we are, that's way harder, and so it stresses them way more. So I've been around different teams and seen a lot of different guys in his role, and he's got the skill set and the mental makeup to be real good at it.”

Söderblom and Knight have formed a strong partnership on and off the ice, but he will have more competition next year, especially as Drew Commesso got a two-year contract extension this summer.

However, if the 27 year old comes back even better, as he said was his goal, it's likely he secures his backup spot again.

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