Boston didn’t waste any time getting their newest blueliner under contract. After acquiring the rights to Victor Soderstrom on Friday, the Bruins announced that they’ve signed the defenseman to a one-year, two-way contract. The NHL portion of the deal will pay the minimum salary of $775K while the AHL salary was not disclosed.
The 24-year-old was a first-round pick back in 2019 when Arizona drafted him 11th overall. However, his development has not quite gone as well as the then-Coyotes would have hoped.
While Soderstrom saw NHL action in four straight seasons from 2020-21 through 2023-24, he only got into 53 games overall. Instead, he spent most of his time in North America in the minors, spanning 170 contests. His 2023-24 performance was arguably his best as he had 32 points in 62 games with AHL Springfield but that didn’t yield much in the way of a chance in Arizona as he played just three times with them that year, leading him to voice his frustration with his lack of opportunity.
As a result, Soderstrom didn’t want to re-sign with that organization (which moved to Utah last offseason) while, at the time at least, Utah didn’t want to trade him. At an impasse, the blueliner decided to go back home, signing a two-year deal with SHL Brynas. With one year left on that agreement, it’s clear that the agreement had an NHL out clause.
Soderstrom had a solid season in Sweden, posting nine goals and 28 assists in 49 regular season games with Brynas while logging over 22 minutes a night of playing time. While he didn’t post points at the same level in the playoffs, he chipped in with eight points in 17 outings in a little more than 23 minutes per game of ice time. Along the way, Chicago acquired his rights as part of the move that saw them add Shea Weber’s contract to their books and the thought was that the Blackhawks might try to sign Soderstrom themselves this summer.
Clearly, that didn’t happen and Chicago’s prospect depth on the back end might have had something to do with that, leading to Friday’s trade. Boston’s right-shot defensive depth isn’t as deep as Charlie McAvoy and Andrew Peeke are the only two regular blueliners who shoot from that side. As a result, there could be an opportunity for Soderstrom to push for a roster spot with the Bruins although a lot can change between now and the start of training camp that could affect that chance. Either way, Soderstrom will be getting a second opportunity to play in North America this season.
Could be a Forsling in the rough
Every time I see Forsling I think of how stupid the Hawks were to let him go.
Forsling was drafted by Vancouver, But yes, Stan Nepotism Bowman let Forsling go, As well as Phillip Danault
I wonder if the Hawks trading him after like 3 months had something to do with not wanting to be a Blackhawk, especially the amount of competition coming up of good prospects and NHL ready defenseman, Levslhunov Korchinski and Rinzel are probably making the roster, Del Maestro might make it too, Wyatt Kaiser probably, and Louis Crevier as the 6th or 7th, Nolan Allen as well got a good long look last year as well very young group, but i wouldn’t be shocked to see a trade or 2 or maybe a couple start in the AHL or perhaps 1 or 2 packaged in an attempt to trade up given they’d probably offer a lot to get Michael Misa or maybe to move up from #25 (Toronto’s 1st) for a higher 2nd pick in the 1st Round
It said in the article he probably didn’t want to sign with the Hawks and has a much shorter path with the Bruins. He was looking for a place to play sooner. I’m fairly certain that Davidson liked Raty and Soderstrom and wanted to keep them. Raty went back to Europe and I’m not sure if the Hawks retain his rights or not. So Davidson just cut his losses and took whatever he could get. As for a trade the Hawks have plenty of bullets to move up from 25. I don’t think anyone is moving 1 or 2. So the only road to Misa is he falls.