Rangers Acquire Arvid Soderblom

Soderblom came into the season as Chicago’s backup goalie, the role he had held since partway through the 2022-23 season.  However, he, like many Blackhawks, didn’t get off to a good start.  Through five appearances, the 27-year-old posted a 4.67 GAA with an .842 SV%.  That ultimately saw him land on waivers back on Monday, resulting in an assignment to AHL Rockford.

Despite the tough start, Soderblom’s NHL track record has had enough promising signs for the Rangers to take a flyer on his services.  Through 117 career NHL appearances, he has a 3.65 GAA with an .885 SV%.  Those numbers aren’t great by any stretch but it’s worth noting that he was playing behind a team mired in a long-term rebuild.

Soderblom’s best year came back in 2024-25 when his SV% checked in at .898.  That was enough for GM Kyle Davidson to sign him to a two-year, $5.5MM contract to continue in the backup role.  New York is taking on the full freight of that contract.  However, since they’ve sent him to AHL Hartford, he will only count on New York’s books at a $1.525MM cap charge which will come out of their LTIR pool.  They clearly view Soderblom’s upside as an upgrade on Martin’s, allowing them to upgrade their goaltending depth for a return that only costs them some cap space.

As for Martin, he has spent the majority of the season in the minors.  He began the year as New York’s fourth-string option but when Igor Shesterkin was sidelined with a season-ending injury early, he moved up to the number three slot.  Martin spent a couple of weeks in the backup role when Joonas Korpisalo was sidelined (before James Reimer had a brief stint with them) and made one relief appearance, turning aside 15 of 18 shots in 35 minutes of action.

The 31-year-old has 73 career NHL games under his belt, in which he has played to a 3.62 GAA and an .881 SV%.  His numbers in the minors are considerably better, however, checking in at 2.87 and .903, respectively, in 271 games over parts of 11 seasons.   He’s in the final season of a two-year, one-way deal worth the minimum salary ($850K this season) and, like Soderblom, will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in July.