Arvid Soderblom's season wasn't good enough

Arvid Soderblom has been a full-time NHL goaltender for three seasons now, and we have a good idea of exactly what he is. Unfortunately, that is a below-average backup goaltender. We marveled at his improvement from the 2023-24 season to 2024-25, where his save percentage (SV%) saw a 19-point improvement. But, in nine fewer starts this season, his SV% dropped to .880, only .001 better than his miserable 2023-24 season.

Season Review

With Spencer Knight staying healthy this season, Soderblom fell into more of a traditional backup role this season, starting 24 games. He picked up his first win of the season in the Oct. 15 win over the St. Louis Blues. He earned his first career NHL shutout with a 22-save effort against the Utah Mammoth on March 1.

Soderblom had four games with at least 44 saves and went 2-2-0. He had five games with fewer than 20 saves, where he went 2-3-0. He allowed more than three goals in half of his starts, not giving his team a chance to win on many nights.

Head coach Jeff Blashill said that a goaltender’s numbers can get crushed by a couple of bad starts, especially a backup. He feels that when you take away a netminder’s worst and best couple of games, you have a better idea of who he is. If you remove Soderblom’s worst four starts and best four starts, you’re left with 16 games. In those games, he went 4-10-2 with a .879 SV%.

“I’ve liked his game,” Blashill said of Soderblom. “I think he’s done a good job. The job of a backup is very difficult; you have to have a certain mental makeup to do it. I’ve seen guys thrive in it, and I’ve seen guys not thrive in it. He’s someone that I know can thrive in that role.

“I’m totally comfortable with where his game is at. I’m comfortable that when we’ve put him in certain games, I have a belief that he’s going to give us a chance to win. Like everybody else, some nights he’s played better than other nights. You get a lot of tough starts when you’re a backup. And when you’re a backup for a team that’s first in the league, it gets easier in those tough starts. But when you’re a backup on a team that is climbing out of a rebuild like we are, it’s way harder. He’s got the skillset and mental makeup to be really good at it.”

Analysis & Final Grade

Season Stats

Record: 8-13-3
Starts: 24
Games played: 26
GAA: 3.80
SV%: .880
Shutouts: 1
Quality starts: 9
Quality start %: .375
Goals saved above average: 10.4
Expected goals against: 88.07
Goals against: 93
High-danger SV%: .783

The most telling stat for Soderblom’s season was the number of quality starts he made. A quality start for an NHL goaltender is any start with a SV% higher than the current league average. Or, in a start facing less than 20 shots, having a SV% greater than .885. Soderblom had nine quality starts, so just over a third of his starts. When you consider the league SV% was .896, the lowest it's been since 1993-94, the stat is even worse.

If the Blackhawks are serious about contending for a playoff spot next season, they have to upgrade the backup goaltender position. As we know, the wild card race usually comes down to one or two points. You’ll lose too many valuable points with a No. 2 goaltender who is below league average 63% of the time. Soderblom gets a C-.

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