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There’s no denying that goaltender Petr Mrazek has been a staple for the Chicago Blackhawks since they acquired him prior to the 2022-23 season. As Jason Dickinson said in December, “It’s a guy that you know he’s going to show up for us. We don’t even need to worry about it.”
With a rebuilding team facing a lot of instability and question marks, having Mrazek as their constant has meant a lot to the group in more ways than one. However, he faces one of the worst stretches of his Blackhawks tenure, allowing four-plus goals in five of his last six games. Is he just experiencing a rut that every NHL player goes through, or is it fair to question other factors?
Is Mrazek’s Blackhawks Workload Starting to Show?
Mrazek has been no stranger to a strong workload in Chicago. Last season was his best, where he started 53 games, the most of his career. His .305 GAA (Goals-against Average) and .908 SV% (Save percentage) during that time even beat out top NHL goaltenders like Jake Oettinger (Dallas Stars- .905 SV%) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning- .900 SV%), despite the Blackhawks being the second-worst team in the league. After maintaining a healthy season and working with Blackhawks’ goaltender coach, Jimmy Waite, he earned a two-year contract extension in January 2024. With that, Mrazek’s longevity concerns seemed to somewhat take a pause.
He opened the season strong and, once again, with a busy workload. But he was content, as he told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times in November, “I’ve been feeling the best I’ve felt.” Mrazek continued, “Once you play in more games, you feel confident, and you feel good. You don’t even feel like you’re tired — you just want to play. It’s been fun. It’s just time to win some games.”
However, the end of November began to take a turn. It started with a 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Nov. 29, that progressed to a couple of atypical performances by him. But everything snowballed on Dec. 7 against the Winnipeg Jets when Mrazek hurt his groin in the first period and left the game. Afterward, the team put him on injured reserve. He then returned against the Calgary Flames on Dec. 21, which did not go well, as the Blackhawks lost 6-4, and Mrazek looked shaky.
His following starts against the Buffalo Sabres and the New Year’s Eve Winter Classic game against the St. Louis Blues were some of the team’s worst showings of the season. It’s not all on Mrazek, as the team in front of him has not been playing anywhere close to standard. But he has usually been the shield of his club’s poor showings and hasn’t looked as sharp.
Mrazek has started 23 of the Blackhawks’ 38 games, posting a 3.23 GAA and .893 SV%. Is the workload beginning to catch up with him? Backup goaltender Arvid Soderblom has played better this season, and they could start deferring to him more. Naturally, you want your number one goalie to get the starts, but that might have to be considered if Mrazek’s stretch continues.
Is Mrazek’s Injury a Bigger Concern Than Expected?
It’s no secret that Mrazek has dealt with a recurring groin injury throughout his career, which makes me wonder if his injury is still prevalent. Especially because after the Sabres game on Dec. 27, interim head coach Anders Sorensen was asked if Mrazek was okay because he looked like he was possibly uncomfortable. Sorensen replied briefly, “Yeah, he’s fine.”
Because Sorensen said Mrazek is okay, it’s hard to go that route when there is no confirmation that his injury is lingering. Even though his injury history (including dealing with three groin injury stints in 2022-23) and recently being on injured reserve makes it unsettling. Which takes us to question three:
Is Mrazek Just In a Rut?
After all, maintaining a high level of play in the NHL is hard. Doing it on a team in last place is even harder. Mrazek could also just be experiencing a slump on top of everything else. It’s been weird to see because it seemed expected that whenever he played, he would be “on,” but no player is immune to the ups and downs of the season.
The Blackhawks signed goaltender Laurent Brossoit over the summer as a potential 1A/1B situation with Mrazek. But he has been out all season with a right knee injury. He has since had a second procedure and updates on his return have been sparse. Brossoit’s signing seemed logical to help support Mrazek throughout the season, so he wouldn’t have to carry so much, and the Hawks are missing having that second anchor. However, as previously mentioned, Soderblom has held his own this season, so it’s not like the Blackhawks don’t have options, which is a positive. If Soderblom were also struggling, it would be a different conversation about what to do in net.
If anyone can get out of this rut, it’s Mrazek. He has done it before with the Blackhawks, and there is still a lot of season left. Therefore, it’s premature to hit the “panic” button, but certainly, concerns are valid.
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