3 reasons why it is okay the Blackhawks are letting Arvid Soderblom overcome his struggles in the NHL

The hope by now was Arvid Soderblom would have a firm grasp on the No. 1 goaltender spot. Hope and reality are two different things.

Soderblom's first full NHL season has been rough. Rough is putting it politely.

The Hawks have won just two games when he has started in goal. Soderblom has given up 13 goals over his last two games.

He has a 4.15 goals-against-average and a .870 save percentage. Those numbers put him dead last in the NHL among active netminders this year. Only Antti Raanta has a worse save percentage and he was recently waived by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Do not expect Soderblom to suffer the same fate as Raanta.

Soderblom's third-period meltdown in St. Louis normally would have given him a one-way ticket to Rockford to fix his game. Instead, head coach Luke Richardson wants him to work out his issues with the Blackhawks.

Soderblom should be thanking the current state of the Blackhawks as the reason he is still in the NHL. If the Hawks were a contender, he would have been sent to the AHL about a month ago. Since this is still the early stages of an extensive rebuild, a goalie with a -6.6 goals saved above expected gets chance after chance to figure it out at the game's top competition level.

Then again, Lukas Reichel is getting the same chance on the wing. Both were considered future cornerstone pieces coming into the season. Although, Richardson cannot healthy scratch Soderblom. He can sit him for more games though. Then again, rebuilds allow for patience except watching Soderblom give up goal after goal makes it hard to give him time.

It is not like Soderblom is going to get extra work in Rockford.

You probably do not want Soderblom eating into Commesso's playing time. Right now Stauber and Commesso are splitting the starts. Drew has 14 while Jaxson has 13. That plan should not be deviated from so Soderblom can work out whatever problems he is having.

This is a backup goalie we are talking about right now. Maybe Arvid can get right, but every day he looks more and more like a career backup. You do not want him throwing off any development time for the next No. 1 goalie prospect just because Soderblom failed to be the current one.

It is a lost season anyway, so let him help improve the NHL Draft Lottery odds.

Injuries have decimated a roster that was not going to make the playoffs to begin with. Injuries especially ravaged the blue line where at one point the Hawks were rolling out half of the IceHogs' defensemen group.

Although, the blue line got some reinforcements against St. Louis and Soderblom unraveled in the final period. A rebuilding team is going to have youth on the blue line and the Hawks are no exception. It also means rookie mistakes and that is going to make it tough for any netminder.

A rebuild also means lost seasons and that is what the Chicago Blackhawks are going through. This team was not going to contend for a playoff spot even if it was fully healthy. Having Connor Bedard provided hope things would be better this season, but there are just too many roster holes that Bedard's presence cannot spackle over.

It is ugly to watch Soderblom in goal, but the silver lining is his wretched starts have helped the Hawks' lottery odds. The hope was we would not have to monitor Tankathon.com every day, but the reality is this franchise needs another two drafts before we can finally start thinking about the playoffs. Why not maximize this rebuild with another tank season?

The only disappointing part when it comes to Soderblom was it would have been nice to have a long-term answer at the top goaltender, especially with Mrazek set to be a free agent after the season

Plus, it does not mean Soderblom cannot turn it around and be the long-term solution in goal, although it keeps getting tougher to watch him try.