Arvid Soderblom clears, Stars snatch Remi Poirier back

Sunday was the day Chicago finally did something about the backup goalie spot, and the first domino was Soderblom.

It was coming. Soderblom started 4 games this season, lost all 4 and stopped.842 of the shots he saw, with a few soft ones mixed in, including in Thursday's 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay. The bigger picture is worse. He has a.885 save percentage across 117 career NHL games, and since the start of last season he sits at minus-18.2 goals saved above average, 6th-worst in the league per the Sun-Times. He's in the 2nd year of a 2-year deal and heads to unrestricted free agency next summer, so 31 other teams had a free look at him on Monday. Nobody bit.

The Hawks didn't wait for Monday to find out. Hours after the waiver news, they had his replacement on a plane from Rockford.

Ben Pope

@BenPopeCST

Blackhawks have called up Drew Commesso to replace Soderblom. Patrick Kane on IR retroactive to Nov. 2, so he's eligible to be activated at any time.

Drew Commesso has earned the call. He's 24, a 2020 2nd-round pick who has been in Rockford for more than 3 years, the IceHogs' starter since 2023-24. His AHL numbers this season are just fine (2-4-1,.890), but he went 2-1-0 with a.918 in 3 Chicago starts last year, shutout of Nashville included. Putting Patrick Kane on IR backdated to Nov. 2 made room for the recall without anyone waiting on Soderblom's waiver clock. It also means Kane can be activated whenever he's ready.

Then there's the other goalie on Sunday's wire, whose fall has been a lot more chaotic. Remi Poirier was a Dallas draft pick. The Stars put him on waivers at the end of camp to send him to the Texas Stars, New Jersey claimed him, and the Devils then flipped him to Washington for a 7th-rounder in 2027. He still hasn't played a game this season at either level. The Caps waived him hoping to get him to Hershey and finally let him play. Dallas grabbed him back instead.

Sammi Silber 🏒

@sammisilber

The Stars claimed back Remi Poirier, so Caps back where they started on the goaltending front. Was a good thought to try and get another top goalie for the organization. Tough break.

Elliotte Friedman

@FriedgeHNIC

DAL claims Poirier, Soderblom clears

That's the right read. Washington took a cheap swing at adding another real goalie to the organization and ended up empty-handed on depth. Still, the saga might not be over. If Dallas wants to send Poirier to the AHL, he has to go through waivers again, and that leaves the door open for the Caps.

Tarik El-Bashir

@Tarik_ElBashir

It’s my understanding that Poirier would need to clear waivers again in order for DAL to send him down to the AHL. #ALLCAPS

Zack Fisch

@zackfisch

The Caps had hoped the add goaltending depth and get Poirier down to @TheHersheyBears to play. Instead, he heads back to Dallas, who lost him on waivers initially. Mitch Gibson remains the only minor league goalie on an NHL deal.

So that's the Hawks with a new backup and a struggling veteran sorting things out somewhere other than the NHL roster, and Poirier on his 4th organization of the fall without a single start. What to watch now is Commesso's first start, Kane's activation, and whether the Stars try to slip Poirier through waivers again. If they do, Washington is probably waiting.