Blackhawks May Finally Have Franchise Goalie

The Chicago Blackhawks are stuck in limbo as the 2024-2025 season reaches the home stretch. With less than 25 games remaining in the regular season, the Hawks are out of playoff contention and have made little progress in their rebuilding process.

However, after their trade with the Florida Panthers, the Blackhawks may finally have a franchise goaltender. The Hawks and Cats finalized a trade that sent defenseman Seth Jones to Florida in exchange for goalie Spencer Knight and a draft pick.

The Hawks wasted no time getting Knight onto their roster and playing in games. He made his team debut against the Los Angeles Kings and dazzled. He surrendered one goal and made 41 saves en route to a 5-1 victory over the Kings. Between the trade, the travel involved in joining his new team, and adjusting to a whole new locker room and teammates, it's been chaos for Knight since the deal finalized.

Yet, the new Blackhawks goalie was poised and collected in his debut. The Hawks' defense was porous once again, but Knight stood tall. Even the team's head coach, Anders Sorensen, pointed out how calm his new starting goalie was.

"Yeah, I mean he looked really good,” he said. “Calm is probably the word, right? He just looked so composed back there, so tight down low. He made even some great puck plays. So, yeah, big part of it, obviously."

The debut is the most positive development of the season for Chicago. Star center Connor Bedard has gone cold since the 4 Nations Face-Off break concluded and Jones was their best defenseman, but the arrival of Knight is an injection of optimism and hope.

With the Panthers this season, he compiled a 12-8-1 record with a 2.40 goals-against average and .907 save percentage. The hope is that Knight builds off this excellent start and establishes himself as the bedrock the Blackhawks envision him to be. He's improved steadily under the tutelage and guidance of Panthers' goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, and he now faces his biggest test: proving he is, in fact, a franchise goalie.