Over the weekend, the Chicago Blackhawks extended Arvid Soderblom. He avoided arbitration by signing a two-year deal with a cap hit of $2.7 million. This is a deal that Soderblom earned through his play in the 2024-25 season. 

There were times that he was a backup, there was a time where he was getting the net with the frequency of a starter, and he split time for a stretch.

Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) on X🔔 Saturday morning Sodie signing! 📰 ➡︎ https://t.co/6FGg7SFL5y

His first half of the season was better than his second, but he still finished with a 3.18 goals against average and .898 save percentage. 

Those numbers still need work, but they are respectable based on the context of the team that’s been in front of him. Soderblom’s improvement has been steady. 

Despite his successes in 2024-25, plus his new contract extension, Soderblom will have to earn his spot on the team again. Injuries played a role in his making it last year, and he succeeded. Now, it’s time to do it again. 

Spencer Knight is surely going to be the starter in 2025-26. Chicago landed him as their big return in the Seth Jones trade with the Florida Panthers. If he’s the goalie that everybody thinks he can be based on his talent and pedigree, he’ll be a long-term mainstay. 

The role of backup goalie to Spencer Knight remains the question. Soderblom has the inside track based on 2024-25, but Drew Commesso’s name is in the mix now. 

Commesso has some pedigree as well, being a former second-round pick (46th overall). Last season with the Rockford IceHogs was sensational. Commesso had a 2.54 goals against and a .911 save percentage over 39 games. 

The second half of the AHL season saw Commesso get hot. Rockford won their first-round series over the Chicago Wolves in the process, but lost a tough five-game series to the Milwaukee Admirals in five. 

In the middle of the season, Commesso did make his NHL debut, but the Blackhawks didn’t need him for more than a couple of games. Now, he could make it a competition with Soderblom for the role of the backup. Both goalies will come to camp looking to make the team. 

This is Soderblom’s role to lose, but everything must be earned at this point. The team is still rebuilding, but the number of available jobs is dwindling. 

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You don’t undergo a rebuild without being all in on youth, and this upcoming season, the Montreal Canadiens will be the youngest team in the league, according to eliteprospects.com, with an average age of 25.35 years, just ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks and the Buffalo Sabres, who both average 25.73 years.

The Canadiens aren’t the least experienced team; however, they have 6,625 games of experience, while the Sabres have 6,040, and the Blackhawks complete the top three with 6,945 games on the counter.

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Despite their youth, the Canadiens are expected to take another step forward this season, to continue their organic growth, as Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes would put it. We’ve seen the Habs increasingly focusing on results last season, shifting their emphasis away from development.

It’s a tricky balance to find because, while their young core is gaining more and more experience and starting to crave results, younger or new players are being added, and they will need time to either develop or become familiar with the Canadiens’ system.

While the Canadiens lost three veterans this off-season with David Savard retiring and both Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia leaving as free agents, it won’t result in the line-up being flooded by rookies. Hughes ensured it wouldn’t be the case when he acquired Noah Dobson and Zachary Bolduc.

The blueliner is still only 25 years old, but he already has a wealth of experience with 388 games on the counter. As for Bolduc, he played his rookie season last year and will be expected to take a step up this season. At 22 years old, he’s already just short of 100 games of experience with 97.

Their addition will leave two lineup spots available for rookies, unless Samuel Blais beats the odds and manages to crack the roster. The 29-year-old spent the entirety of the last season in the AHL and is generally pencilled in as the 13th forward, taking over for Michael Pezzetta, who signed a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1st.

One of the rookie spots will undoubtedly be filled by Ivan Demidov. Although he’s only 19 years old with only two regular-season games of experience, he played professionally in the KHL last season. It’s not like he was just drafted, and he’s the kind of player who is made to play under Martin St-Louis. The bench boss does ask his players to make a lot of reads on the ice rather than sticking to a particular system at all times, and Demidov’s high hockey IQ and vision mean he should be able to thrive in that environment and hit the ground running, so to speak.

As for the second rookie spot, chances are it will be filled by Oliver Kapanen, who is still considered a rookie in NHL terms, having only played 18 games in the big league so far (once you hit 25, you’re no longer a rookie at the beginning of the next season). Still, he also gained further professional experience in Sweden last season, playing 36 games with Timra IK in the top Swedish league. Under coach Olli Jokinen, the youngster saw plenty of ice time and was utilized in all facets of the game, playing on the man advantage and the penalty kill.

Last season, when he showed up for rookie camp, he looked head and shoulders above everyone else, but the fact that he had already taken part in Timra’s training camp and preseason games had given him a head start. Once the main camp started, and he had to face NHLers, it got harder for him. He still made the team out of camp but was loaned to Timra in early November. He returned for the last six games of the season and was also dressed for three playoff games, scoring only one point in those nine games.

There are a couple of other candidates for the second rookie role, however. The names of Owen Beck and Florian Xhekaj come to mind. Both are 21, but Beck has the inside lane experience-wise, having played 12 NHL games last season, but he was limited to a single assist. Furthermore, he’s also a center and can give a hand at the faceoff dot if needed, something the younger Xhekaj cannot do.

Xhekaj has the edge when it comes to physicality; however, he still has a scoring touch, as evidenced by his 24 goals in 69 games with the Laval Rocket last season. Considering how the Canadiens were man-handled by the Washington Capitals in the playoffs last year, they certainly could use his grit, but chances are, he’s not quite ready for the NHL yet.

The Canadiens may be the youngest team in the NHL, but they are still ahead in the rebuild compared to other teams undergoing the same process…

Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images

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The NHL trade rumors may have slowed down for now in this part of the offseason, but the Philadelphia Flyers are still linked to a number of top available talents.

This offseason has mostly been a slow burn for the Flyers, as they traded for Trevor Zegras, signed goalie Dan Vladar and center Christian Dvorak, and extended Cam York within one week of either side of the start of free agency.

But, if GM Danny Briere and the Flyers ever want to pick things back up before the start of the season, it's not like they'll be short on options.

The Fourth Period, led by NHL insider David Pagnotta, recently released its updated summer trade watch list, and the Flyers are, apparently, still in the mix for a handful of young stars, including a pair of centers.

Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram, who has been connected to the Flyers at many points over the last few seasons, ranked No. 1 on TFP's list, with the Flyers among the 10 linked teams.

Flyers Trade Target Re-Signs with SabresLong-standing Philadelphia Flyers trade target Bowen Byram isn't leaving the Buffalo Sabres just yet.

Another player whose trade hype has died out in Philadelphia is Minnesota Wild center Marco Rossi, whose reported lofty contract demands have left him unsigned nearly a month after the start of free agency.

The 23-year-old may or may not stay in Minnesota, but it's clear the contract situation is slowing things down on the trade market, too.

Dropping 10 spots from Rossi's No. 4 ranking to No. 14, we stumble across Anaheim Ducks center Mason McTavish, a 22-year-old RFA.

McTavish, like Rossi, is in need of a new contract, and his size and experience would make him a surefire top-six center on a team like the Flyers.

I have my own reservations about the former No. 3 overall pick's playstyle and ceiling, but it's undeniable he would upgrade the Flyers' center depth for many years.

Philadelphia Flyers Should Avoid This Potential Ducks Trade TargetThe Philadelphia Flyers are still well positioned to execute a blockbuster trade for a top center this summer, but one popular potential trade target on the Anaheim Ducks isn't worth all the hype.

The Flyers, Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, and Calgary Flames are among the teams connected to McTavish, according to TFP.

As far as reported links go, that's the end of the list, but there are a few more names worth considering from Philadelphia's perspective.

Players like Pavel Zacha and Yegor Chinakhov aren't too old yet and could benefit from a change of scenery, especially on a Flyers team looking to improve and begin its ascent.

The big thing for the Flyers, as with every player on this list, is how they're going to come up with the cap space.

With Ryan Ellis and Ivan Fedotov still included on the active roster, the Flyers have just $370k in cap space.

But that's what trades are for, right?