The wait for offseason signing Laurent Brossoit to make his Blackhawks debut looks like it’ll carry into 2025 following news that broke on Friday afternoon.
Brossoit, who signed with Chicago on July 1, had another procedure on his ailing right knee and will be sidelined for at least six more weeks, which delays the timeline for his possible return until at least January:
Blackhawks say goalie Laurent Brossoit had a follow-up arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and will be re-evaluated in six weeks.
— Tracey Myers (@traceymyers.bsky.social) November 29, 2024 at 12:29 PM
Brossoit, who turned 32 in March, had meniscus surgery towards the end of August and was not expected to be available for training camp, although the thought was that he’d join up with Chicago early in the season. That obviously hasn’t happened, and now this injury creates a further complication with the Blackhawks current goalie situation.
Petr Mrazek is the clear No. 1 with Arvid Soderblom playing well in a backup role, although Soderblom is certainly more of a potential long-term option here given Mrazek’s age and the ongoing lengthy rebuild happening in Chicago. And if Soderblom plays four more games — which now seems inevitable — he’ll no longer be waiver exempt, which means the Blackhawks could risk losing him for nothing if they decided to send him to Rockford.
Carrying three goalies at the NHL level has always been a but unwieldy, but Chicago may not have many more options available given the current situation. Still, that concern can at least be set aside for now, though, because Brossoit needs to make a healthy return to the active roster before any of these other hypotheticals come to fruition.