Center Carl Soderberg — who agreed to a one-year, $1 million contract with the Blackhawks on Dec. 26 — thinks the Hawks will be better than last season.
In 2019-20, Chicago snuck into the NHL's 24-team postseason as a No. 12 seed and upset the Edmonton Oilers in the qualifying round before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in Round One.
"I was very impressed by them in the playoffs when they played against Edmonton and won that series," Soderberg said on a Zoom call with Blackhawks media Monday. "It's a very good team, and still [has] some veterans, and it's a young team. I think this year [they're] going to be even better and hopefully I can help them."
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The 35-year-old forward, who recorded 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists) in 70 games last season for the Arizona Coyotes, was signed after Hawks center Kirby Dach suffered a right-wrist injury during Team Canada's 1-0 exhibition win over Russia on Wednesday at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Witnessing the Hawks' youth movement in the 2020-21 season won't be anything new for Soderberg.
"For me, I know it's a rebuilding team, but it goes quick," he said. "In Colorado a couple years ago, we were rebuilding too and now they're one of the [top] contenders in the league, hopefully this year, it's going to be [the Hawks'] year."
Soderberg will be rejoining his teammate from 2015-2019 with the Avalanche, Nikita Zadorov, in Chicago. Zadorov, a 6'5 defenseman, was a return for the Blackhawks in October's Brandon Saad trade.
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"He was the leading hitter in the NHL a couple years ago (2017-18), that's what he's going to bring. It's going to be there every night, [him] protecting his players," Soderberg said of Zadorov.