With an 11-9-5 record and 27 points through 25 games, the Chicago Blackhawks currently sit in a wildcard playoff spot in the NHL’s Western Conference.
One of the key reasons the Blackhawks have been one of the league’s biggest surprises early in the 2025-26 season is their goaltending. Chicago has the fifth-best team save percentage (.905) and is 13th in goals allowed per game (2.88).
Most of that lofty work has come from new No. 1 netminder Spencer Knight, who’s playing his first full season with the Blackhawks after being acquired from the Florida Panthers at the 2025 trade deadline. Knight, still only 24 years old, is fourth in the NHL in save percentage (.918) among all goaltenders with at least ten starts. The former 13th overall pick is also third in both goals saved above expected (14.7) and wins above replacement (2.45), according to MoneyPuck.
Backup Arvid Soderblom has struggled in his last two outings, allowing a whopping 13 goals on 60 shots faced. Those two games have derailed Soderblom’s statistics; however, he had only surrendered more than three goals once in his first seven starts of the season. His numbers may no longer reflect it, but he’s been reliable more times than not as the No. 2 goaltender.
Both Knight and Soderblom signed multi-year extensions with the Blackhawks this past summer, signaling that they’re the tandem in between the pipes for the immediate future. Knight inked a three-year deal with a $5.83 million cap hit, which already looks to be a bargain. Soderblom signed a two-year extension at $2.75 million per year.
It’s easy to forget that there is technically a third goaltender on the Blackhawks’ NHL roster, as he’s yet to play a single game since signing with the club in July of 2024. Laurent Brossoit, who’s undergone three surgeries over the past 15 months, has been on long-term injured reserve for most of his tenure with Chicago. It wasn’t until Nov. 17, just two weeks ago, that Brossoit participated in his first practice with the team.
When the Blackhawks signed Brossoit two summers ago, Knight was still playing second fiddle behind Sergei Bobrovsky in Florida, and Soderblom was an AHLer in the final year of his initial contract. At the time, the signing made plenty of sense, as the Hawks needed another NHL-caliber netminder to support then-starter Petr Mrazek. Brossoit was also coming off a second consecutive season with a .927 save percentage and sub-2.20 goals-against average.
But with Knight and Soderblom now locked up through the end of the 2026-27 campaign, there’s no longer room for Brossoit once he gets healthy enough to return to game action. According to an NHL insider, that return could be coming as soon as this week.
During the “Saturday Headlines” segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Brossoit is expected to start an AHL conditioning stint with the Rockford IceHogs this week. Friedman also said the Blackhawks are taking calls on Brossoit and have allowed other teams to talk with him.
Brossoit, 32, is likely to be on the move in the coming weeks. It wouldn’t benefit anyone if the Blackhawks kept him as the third goaltender on the roster, and there are clubs around the league looking for help in between the pipes.
Look no further than the Edmonton Oilers, who are dead-last in the NHL in team save percentage (.865). Stuart Skinner has a mere .885 save percentage through 19 starts this year, and backup Calvin Pickard has fared even worse (.847 save percentage in seven starts). Edmonton currently has the sixth-worst points percentage in the Western Conference and is outside of the playoffs through 26 games.
Brossoit began his NHL career with the Oilers and made his first 20 starts with the team from 2014-18, so the organization is plenty familiar with him. But for any team looking to upgrade its goaltending depth, Brossoit could be a sturdy addition.
In 140 career games, Brossoit has a 64-46-13 record, 2.64 goals-against average, .917 save percentage, and five shutouts. He carries a $3.3 million cap hit on his contract, which expires at the end of this season.
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