Soderblom has the tools to be Blackhawks’ goalie of future originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Arvid Soderblom’s numbers in the NHL last season weren’t great, albeit in an incredibly small sample size. He had a 5.02 goals-against average and .863 save percentage in three appearances with the Blackhawks.
But those stats don’t tell the full picture of just how good he actually was during his first season in the pros. Soderblom was one of the top goaltenders last season in the AHL, where he went 21-15-2 with a 2.76 goals-against average, .919 save percentage and two shutouts in 38 games for the Rockford IceHogs. He also had a .925 save percentage in the playoffs.
With the Blackhawks embarking on a full-scale rebuild, the goal going into the season was for Soderblom to be the full-time starter in Rockford again so he can continue his development while handling a heavier workload with an IceHogs team that has high aspirations.
But with Petr Mrazek (groin) and Alex Stalock (concussion protocol) injured, the Blackhawks have had no choice but to throw Soderblom into the fire. And he’s handling it quite well.
Soderblom stopped 32 of 33 shots in Thursday’s 2-1 overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings, including a game-saver in the final minutes of regulation on Kevin Fiala. It was his first career NHL win, and he had to wait a while to finally get it.
“I felt good all day,” Soderblom said. “Morning skate and warmup, I’ve been feeling good all day. It was a fun game to play in, and I’m glad to pick up my first win. It was fun.”
Soderblom was named the second star of the game on Thursday and the Blackhawks gave him the team belt afterward. He has now given up only seven goals on 108 shots through three appearances this season for a save percentage of .935.
“He’s showing a lot of talent and ability, but I think overall he just seems really poised and focused and calm in the net, and I think those are pretty important qualities for a young goaltender to show promise in this league,” said Jonathan Toews, who scored the overtime winner. “He seems really confident but just really solid.
“It’s great to see him, obviously. It’s unfortunate with the injuries to Al and Pete, but great to see that he can step up and make the best of his opportunity.”
Soderblom has all the tools to become a starting goaltender in the NHL. He’s calm, cool, and collected, and has the makings to become the Blackhawks’ future between the pipes.
“Way calmer than me, that’s for sure,” Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said of Soderblom’s demeanor. “I think you saw what I’m trying to explain about his calmness back there and his ability to stay cool.”
The biggest challenge might be sending him back down when Mrazek and Stalock are healthy, although it probably shouldn’t be. If anything, it might make it easier for him to go back to Rockford knowing he’s finally seeing his success translate to the NHL level. The Blackhawks also don’t see any reason to make him a full-time NHL goaltender right now because they’re still in the beginning stages of a rebuild.
“It’s a small sample and we want to make sure we don’t give him too many more of those back-door, point-blank, put him under the gun to make those saves,” Richardson said. “That’s taxing on a goalie. If we can make it a little more compact in front of him and make it easier for all the goaltenders, but especially a younger one.
“He can still work on his game and become better, but for me, I think it’s about the amount of reps, right? It’s early in the season, we’re still working our game and we’re going to have some holes in it. Until we patch all those holes, it might not be the smartest thing to keep him here and play him. Let him play some consistent games down there.
“If we have both of our goalies healthy back in a week or two, we don’t want to have three guys here sitting out and rotating. That’s not enough time for him. I think for him, the plan was to play a lot, so he’s here now with all our goalies injured and it’s great because he’s playing. He’s getting reps. But this year the thing was to get him as many reps as possible, so that’s going to be probably the plan going forward.”
Soderblom’s mentality is different. He told me earlier in the season that he trusts the organization is doing what’s best for his big-picture development, but he wants to make the management’s decision hard. As he should, because that should always be a player’s mentality.
“Of course you want to do your best and be up here,” Soderblom said. “That’s where everyone wants to be. I just try to take it day by day and do my best every chance I get and I think I’ve been doing that so far and I plan on keep doing that.”
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