The Chicago Blackhawks have made enormous strides in their rebuild over the last two seasons. The forward group is loaded. The blue line is young and improving. The culture under Jeff Blashill is moving in the right direction. But there is one position that has quietly remained unresolved throughout the entire process, and it is the one position that can single-handedly derail a contending team faster than any other.
Goaltending.
Chicago enters the 2026 offseason with Spencer Knight as the established frontrunner in net after a solid first full season with the team, while Arvid Soderblom and Drew Commesso battle for the backup role. and neither has fully seized the crease in the way the organization needs them to. Soderblom has shown flashes of competence and brings a calm, technically sound game that fits Blashill’s structured system, but he has not demonstrated the consistency required to be a true number one on a team trending toward playoff contention. Knight, acquired from the Florida Panthers, carries undeniable talent and genuine upside, but his development has been slower and more uneven than anyone anticipated when he was taken 13th overall in 2019.
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Heading into the 2026 offseason, the numbers from Chicago’s young goaltenders in 2025-26 tell a story of uneven progress and ongoing uncertainty. Spencer Knight, in his first full season with the Blackhawks, appeared in 55 games and posted a respectable .902 save percentage with a 2.82 GAA. He finished with a 19-25-11 record and added three shutouts. While Knight showed flashes of the high-end talent that made him a top prospect, his win-loss record reflected the team’s defensive and offensive inconsistencies more than individual shortcomings.
Arvid Soderblom, meanwhile, struggled to build on previous promise. In 26 games (24 starts), he managed just an .880 save percentage and a bloated 3.80 GAA, going 8-13-3 with one shutout. His regression opened the door for Knight to take the majority of the workload and allowed Drew Commesso to make a brief but strong impression in limited action.
These results underscore the central dilemma facing the organization: Knight has taken a meaningful step forward and looks like the frontrunner for the No. 1 job, but neither young netminder has yet delivered the consistent, high-level performance required to reliably support a team pushing toward playoff contention.
The question facing Kyle Davidson this offseason is whether he trusts that one of those two players takes a significant step forward in 2026-27, or whether the rebuild is far enough along that adding a proven veteran presence in net is the responsible move.
The Free Agent Market
The timing of this conversation is relevant because the goaltending market this offseason is unusually interesting. Three names worth examining are Stuart Skinner, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Vitek Vanecek, each of whom represents a different kind of solution depending on what Chicago is actually looking for.
Skinner is an intriguing option. Still just 27 years old, he has starting experience on a legitimate contender in Edmonton and knows what playoff hockey demands from a goaltender. After the Oilers moved on, he landed in Pittsburgh, where he has continued to log starts and build on his experience behind an organization that has been navigating its own transitional period. His numbers have been inconsistent across both stops, but the underlying talent is real and the resume of a goaltender who has faced genuine playoff pressure at a young age carries value. Skinner on a reasonable term deal gives the organization a capable starter who is young enough to grow alongside the core if they decide to move off of Soderblom.
Bobrovsky is the most established name on the market, but also the most complicated. At 37, he is coming off a very disappointing season with a Florida Panthers team that collapsed badly after back-to-back Stanley Cup wins, finishing with a mediocre 40-38-4 record and missing the playoffs entirely. Despite his reputation as a technically gifted goaltender with a strong resume, Bobrovsky himself posted a career-worst .877 save percentage and 3.07 GAA. He is not a long-term solution, but a one- or two-year bridge deal that stabilizes the crease while Knight continue to develop, could be exactly what Blashill needs to buy time without sacrificing the future. There is also a personal connection worth noting: Spencer Knight spent around three seasons as Bobrovsky’s backup in Florida, and the two developed a genuine rapport during that time. Having a familiar, respected veteran presence in the locker room could accelerate Knight’s development in ways that are difficult to quantify but genuinely meaningful.
-Sergei Bobrovsky on spencer knight
Vanecek is the most team-friendly option. He is not a star, and he will not be mistaken for one, but he is a reliable, experienced NHL goaltender who can handle a starting role on a rebuilding team without demanding a long or high-priced contract. If Davidson wants to address the position without making a major financial commitment, Vanecek fills the gap at a reasonable cost.
The Case for Staying Internal
There is an argument to be made that Chicago should resist the temptation to spend on a veteran goaltender and simply let the competition between Soderblom and Knight play out. Both players are still young enough to develop into legitimate starters, and adding a big contract in net risks blocking the very player who might have emerged given consistent opportunity.
Knight in particular deserves consideration here. He was a high-end prospect for a reason, and the Florida system, one of the best goaltender development environments in the league, clearly saw something in him worth investing in. Blashill has shown throughout his coaching career that he is capable of developing young players in difficult situations, and there is a version of 2026-27 where Knight gets the net, the workload, and the coaching attention he needs to finally become the goaltender his draft position always suggested he could be.
Soderblom is a competitor who battles hard every night and fits the structure Blashill demands, but the numbers are difficult to ignore. He has not cracked a .900 save percentage, and in a system built around defensive responsibility and limiting high-danger chances, that is a problem. Work ethic and compete level matter, but they do not show up on the scoreboard, and at some point a goaltender has to deliver the numbers that justify the roster spot. Soderblom has not done that consistently enough to be considered a reliable option on a team that is ready to take the next step.
The Verdict
The honest answer is that even though the Blackhawks finished 2nd last in the league this season, they have reached the stage in their rebuild where real progress must begin. To take the next step, the team needs to get meaningfully better, and improving the goaltending position is usually the best place to start.
A one- or two-year deal for Bobrovsky makes the most sense. The Florida connection with Knight gives the signing a development dimension that goes beyond the on-ice production, and Bobrovsky’s Stanley Cup pedigree brings exactly the kind of winning culture Blashill is trying to establish in that locker room. He is not a permanent answer, but he does not need to be.
