Blackhawks trying to move Petr Mrazek

The Blackhawks will aggressively try to find a new home for goaltender Petr Mrazek this week, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff .

Itll be difficult given a limited goalie market this season, but its no surprise they want to clear the veteran from their books after acquiring 2019 first-rounder Spencer Knight in last weekends blockbuster deal with the Panthers.

Mrazek was scratched for Knights stellar Chicago debut last night, with 25-year-old Arvid Soderblom serving as the backup instead.

For the season as a whole, Mrazek has an underwhelming 3.46 GAA over 33 games, with a .890 SV% and similarly below-average numbers across the board with the glaring exception of his .788 high-danger SV% that ranks 21st out of 55 qualified goalies, per MoneyPuck .

His dip from last seasons admirable showing in a career-high 56 appearances behind a lottery-bound Blackhawks defense only adds more fuel to Mrazeks reputation as an inconsistent fringe starter option.

Add in the fact he signed through next season at a $4.25MM cap hit and Chicago doesnt have any open salary retention spots until the summer, and its clear theyll likely need to wait to clear up their goalie logjam until after July 1 despite their best efforts to do so now.

Theres always the option to incorporate a third team into trade talks to retain the salary that the Blackhawks cant.

Still, with how quiet the goalie market is, its doubtful that interested parties would be willing to go through the trouble of such a complicated transaction with more significant needs to address.

Only two starter/tandem options had been moved this season before Knight, and it was Mackenzie Blackwood heading from San Jose to Colorado with Alexandar Georgiev coming the other way.

Anaheims John Gibson is Mrazeks only other company on The Athletics latest trade board , and the only contenders needing netminding help (i.e.

the Oilers) cant afford either without damaging their ability to add elsewhere.

This article first appeared on Pro Hockey Rumors and was syndicated with permission..

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