The Chicago Blackhawks were quiet during the NHL offseason. Outside of hiring Jeff Blashill as their new coach and re-signing Ryan Donato, they did not do much. The Blackhawks did sign one of their last restricted free agents over the weekend, avoiding arbitration with Arvid Soderblom thanks to a two-year contract.

According to Josh Wegman of The Score, the Blackhawks and Soderblom were scheduled for an arbitration hearing on Monday. They were able to settle their differences before it reached that point. This deal is worth $2.75 million per season. Even with the contract, Soderblom could be the Blackhawks' third option in net.

At last year's NHL trade deadline, Chicago traded Seth Jones to the Florida Panthers. They got young goalie Spencer Knight back, who they expect to be the starter of the future for them. Soderblom and journeyman backup Laurent Brossoit are both under contract and could be battling for the backup position.

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Soderblom has started 77 games and made 86 appearances across four seasons with the Blackhawks. Last season was his best yet, with a .898 save percentage and 3.18 goals-against average in 36 games, all career highs. But GM Kyle Davidson traded for Knight because Soderblom has not been a full-season starter yet in his career, and has not earned that title with his stats.

Soderblom will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2026-27 season. He has been a serviceable backup in his career so far, and continuing that over his next two seasons will keep him around the NHL. But if he can take a step forward, he may earn a big contract in unrestricted free agency.

The Blackhawks got some solid performances out of Knight down the stretch and may have something in Soderblom. But one of them has to take a massive leap forward if this core has any chance of making the playoffs soon.

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