Blackhawks have 'bona fide No. 1' goalie in Spencer Knight, but Arvid Soderblom, Petr Mrazek are now in limbo

Spencer Knight has an opportunity to establish himself as the Blackhawks’ cornerstone goalie for years to come.

But after his first morning skate Monday — hours before he stopped 41 of 42 shots in a brilliant first start for the Hawks in a 5-1 victory against the Kings — he was focused on more immediate things, such as where he’s going to live in Chicago.

Knight, 23, said he was initially speechless when he learned Saturday that he had been traded by the Panthers, who had drafted him 13th overall in 2019 and had promoted him into the NHL full-time this season as Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup, for defenseman Seth Jones.

‘‘I was very surprised,’’ Knight said. ‘‘But when you turn pro, you realize that’s always a possibility. . . . That’s the world we choose to live in as professional hockey players. I’m just happy to be here [with a] historic franchise.’’

It’s surely a letdown from a strength-of-team standpoint, not that Knight would admit it. He likely had been preparing mentally for another playoff run with the defending Stanley Cup champions; now he finds himself on the 31st-place team in the league.

On the other hand, barring an injury to Bobrovsky, Knight barely was going to see the ice in the playoffs. Now he’s the leading option in a crowded goalie room with Arvid Soderblom and Petr Mrazek. If he lives up to expectations, he could secure a sizable, long-term contract when he becomes a restricted free agent after next season.

‘‘We’re super-excited to have him be a bona fide No. 1 here,’’ Hawks interim coach Anders Sorensen said.

Knight is one of the most talented and acclaimed young goalies in the league. Although his pro career hasn’t been the smoothest so far, it hasn’t gone poorly, either, with a .906 save percentage in his first 80 NHL appearances.

‘‘I’m just going to bring what I’ve always brought — a positive attitude, good work ethic — and work toward winning hockey,’’ Knight said. ‘‘‘I want to bring lots of wins to this organization.

‘‘I’m a goalie that relies on things like skating and technical ability, but I do have the athleticism to make plays and lean on the reads and reactions. It’s about getting to that flow state and just not thinking. When you get into that, you’re really just playing the game.’’

With Knight in the fold, the Hawks’ long-term goaltending outlook has brightened, but their short-term situation has become more complicated.

Soderblom backed up Knight on Monday, with Mrazek the odd man out and Laurent Brossoit still on injured reserve (as he has been all season) with a knee injury. That pretty well establishes the hierarchy right now because Soderblom is eight years younger than Mrazek and has outperformed him this season.

Soderblom has a .906 save percentage and had taken over the ‘‘1A role,’’ playing all but one period of the Hawks’ last four games. Mrazek’s save percentage is .890 overall, but it’s only .866 since the start of December.

The tricky aspect is that Mrazek and Brossoit are under contract for next season — with substantial salary-cap hits of $4.25 million and $3.3 million, respectively — whereas Soderblom is a pending restricted free agent.

The Hawks probably would love to trade Mrazek before the deadline Friday because that would free up the logjam. But it’s unlikely they’ll be able to find a taker for his contract, especially considering they don’t have any retention slots left this season.

Soderblom said Monday he hasn’t had any talks about a contract extension yet but would ‘‘love to be a part of’’ what the Hawks are trying to build. He insisted the three-goalie rotation won’t create any tension.

‘‘[Knight is] a teammate, so we’ll take care of him and push each other to get better and compete for the starts,’’ Soderblom said. ‘‘That’s just a healthy relationship. That’s how it’s supposed to be on a team. You're friends, but you're also competing for ice time.’’