Rangers Acquire Arvid Soderblom From Blackhawks for Spencer Martin

In a bit of a surprising move, the New York Rangers acquired goaltender Arvid Soderblom from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for goaltender Spencer Martin.

According to Mollie Walker of the New York Post and Dan Rosen of NHL.com, Soderblom will be assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL.

Soderblom has suited up for only seven professional games this season, five with Chicago and two with the Rockford IceHogs. Across his five games with the Blackhawks, Soderblom started four and went 0-3-1 with a 4.67 GAA and an .842 save percentage. His numbers in the AHL have been much better, with a 0.99 GAA and a .957 save percentage in two games.

An undrafted 27-year-old goaltender from Sweden, Soderblom made his NHL debut in the 2021-22 season and has remained in the Blackhawks organization ever since. He is in the second year of a two-year contract that carries a cap hit of $2.75 million. With him reporting to Hartford, just over $1.5 million of that will count against the Rangers' cap after the buried amount is applied.

It's certainly an interesting move for the Rangers to make just a couple of hours after placing Igor Shesterkin on season-ending injured reserve. Soderblom is younger than Martin and an upgrade over him. He has also already cleared waivers this season, so he can be assigned to Hartford without having to go through them again.

The Wolf Pack are back at it Tuesday night when they host the Charlotte Checkers.