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Elmer Soderblom

Afternoon Notes: Bellemare, Barkov, Gaudreau, Soderblom

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As they navigate a cap crunch that has seen key pieces of their core stripped away one by one over time, the Tampa Bay Lightning have had to get more and more creative filling out their lineup. The organization has used a mix of young players in their system developed to their liking and affordable veterans with a winning pedigree to round things out. One of those players is 37-year-old Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who the team signed to a two-year deal back in 2021.

Recently, Bellemare has been away from the team on a personal leave of absence, the root of which is unknown. Earlier today, Tampa Bay Times reporter Eduardo Encina spoke with Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, who confirmed that Bellemare will join the team on their upcoming road trip, which will travel through Buffalo, Boston, and Philadelphia. It’s unclear if Bellemare, who last played on Monday, is expected to play on this trip. Although the veteran hasn’t been out very long, it’s possible due to the leave that he may not have been able to continue skating regularly and could need an extra couple days to be ready.

  • Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov will miss the team’s next two games due to illness, says Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards. The nature of Barkov’s illness is unknown, but apparently is serious enough that not only can Barkov not play in tomorrow’s game in Edmonton and Tuesday’s in Calgary, but the forward is not traveling with the Panthers for the Alberta leg of the road trip. After Tuesday, Florida will head out to Vancouver for a Thursday evening matchup with the Canucks, a game which Barkov has not been ruled out for. Barkov missed yesterday’s game against the St. Louis Blues with this same illness.
  • Columbus Blue Jackets winger Johnny Gaudreau did not practice today due to an unknown illness, says Jeff Svoboda of BlueJackets.com. Per Svoboda, Columbus head coach Brad Larsen said he’ll know more tomorrow about Gaudreau’s availability for tomorrow night’s game. Gaudreau has not missed any games thus far with the illness. While the team is struggling this year, the first-year Jacket has not, posting 20 points in 20 games to date.
  • Detroit Red Wings forward Elmer Soderblom is still not practicing, reports Michigan Live’s Ansar Khan. At last report on November 21st, Soderblom was still listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, though head coach Derek Lalonde then said Soderblom’s return could take “some time.” The rookie has two points, both goals, in 13 games this season, but has not played since November 8th due to the injury.

Injury Notes: Parayko, Kassian, Red Wings

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The St. Louis Blues are streaking – again. They’ve nearly wiped out a franchise-record eight-game losing streak by rattling off six straight wins, the latter half of which have come without defenseman Colton Parayko in the lineup. Considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury, Parayko will be a game-time decision tonight when the Blues take on the Anaheim Ducks.

Berube even went so far as to say he was “confident” that Parayko would be back in the lineup, but still, it’s not assured. He’ll be an important piece for the Blues this season as he enters the first season of his eight-year, $52MM contract extension. His defensive play this year has been better than his -9 rating would suggest, with his sample size being weighed down by poor goaltending during the Blues’ losing streak. Tyler Tucker will draw out in place of Parayko after playing his first three NHL games, and Vladimir Tarasenko will miss a second straight game with an undisclosed illness.

  • In activating Jakob Chychrun and Nick Schmaltz from injured reserve, the Arizona Coyotes have replaced them with forward Zack Kassian to stay under the 23-player roster limit, according to PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan. Kassian has not played since November 1 and is still day-to-day with a lower-body injury, even though he’s missed nearly three weeks now. He’s eligible to return at any time given he’s well past the seven-day injured minimum required to be on IR, although the team will need to send someone down to accommodate.
  • Forward Elmer Soderblom remains day-to-day for the Detroit Red Wings despite not playing for weeks, per head coach Derek Lalonde today. Lalonde said Soderblom’s return from a lower-body injury is “probably going to take some time,” and there’s still no clear indication when the rookie could return. Defenseman Gustav Lindstrom could play this week, though. The Swede is also day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Detroit Red Wings Activate Tyler Bertuzzi

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The Detroit Red Wings are getting a huge piece back healthy tonight for their matchup against the struggling Anaheim Ducks. Forward Tyler Bertuzzi has been activated off injured reserve, according to the team Tuesday night. To make room on the roster, the team placed forward Elmer Soderblom on injured reserve retroactive to November 8.

Bertuzzi played in just two games this season before sustaining a broken hand, registering an assist. He’s expected to return to his top-line role alongside Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond.

Detroit has still managed to get off to a 7-5-3 start without him, staying competitive in the Eastern Conference wild-card race. If Bertuzzi can capture last year’s form, where he scored 62 points in 68 games, he’ll fortify what’s already been a strong top six and help them keep pace.

In Bertuzzi’s absence, though, Dominik Kubalik has done a spectacular job providing depth scoring behind Larkin – if you can even call it depth. After going unqualified by the Chicago Blackhawks last offseason, Kubalik has 18 points through his first 15 games as a Red Wing to lead the team.

Soderblom has missed the team’s last two games and is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. He is eligible to return at any time, given the seven-day waiting period on IR retroactively expires as of tonight, but the team will need to make a corresponding roster move to create an open space.

Injury Notes: Murray, Bowers, Red Wings, Capitals, Kravtsov

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When the Toronto Maple Leafs elected to overhaul their goaltending group this offseason, the biggest question aside from rebound performances from Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov, would be health. Thus far, the team has seemingly received a positive answer when it comes to performance from both goaltenders, but health has been an issue. Murray found himself on LTIR with an abductor injury after just one game and last weekend, Samsonov found himself on IR with a knee injury suffered on a Brad Marchand penalty shot. After the emergency signing of AHL netminder Keith Petruzzelli, the team has relied on Erik Kallgren to shoulder the load while waiting for one of Murray or Samsonov to return.

Earlier today, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe provided a brief update on Murray when he spoke with the media, including The Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan. Per Keefe, Murray is doing well physically and has even been cleared to play. However, Keefe says, Murray is not quite ready to return, with the organization’s performance team waiting to see a few more things before they believe he can return to game action. Although Murray’s return can’t come soon enough for Toronto, assuring the netminder is 100% ready for game action is key. Even if he’s completely healthy, as he appears to be, Murray has been out of game action for a month, a considerable amount of that time spent not receiving the daily work and repetition necessary to be a competitive NHL goaltender. Had Murray been rushed, Toronto might find itself with a healthy Murray, but not the one they need.

  • It’s been a long road for forward Shane Bowers between being a first-round pick in 2017 and his NHL debut on Thursday night, and unfortunately, he’ll have to wait a while longer to play in NHL game number two. The 23-year-old suffered an upper-body injury after just 1:46 of time-on-ice Thursday and is now out long-term. According to Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now, who spoke to Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar, Bowers is expected to miss six weeks. The injury is surely a tough break for Bowers both physically and mentally, however after several years of sub-par performance that interrupted his development, he had been off to a strong start in 2022-23, recording six points in ten AHL games. That performance, combined with his once-high prospect status is something the Avalanche will surely keep in mind as he works his way back.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have had themselves an up-and-down start to the season, currently holding a record of 7-4-3. While many had high hopes for the team after a busy offseason, their record through 14 games may be better than it seems given the team’s difficult injury issues early on. In fact, some of those injury woes may be resolving themselves shortly, says Michigan Live’s Answer Kahn. As Kahn writes, rookie forward Elmer Soderblom, who missed Thursday’s game against the New York Rangers, is still considered day-to-day. Defenseman Jake Walman, who had shoulder surgery this offseason, is expected to return to the lineup and make his season debut at some point during Detroit’s four game road trip, which begins tonight in Los Angeles against the Kings and concludes a week from tonight against the Blue Jackets in Columbus. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, forward Tyler Bertuzzi, who suffered a broken hand just two games into the season, is expected to return Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks.
  • Despite placing him on IR just yesterday, Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov skated at optional practice this morning and will be joining the team on its upcoming road trip, says NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. Washington’s road trip begins tomorrow in Tampa Bay against the Lightning and concludes Thursday at the St. Louis Blues. Orlov, who was injured last Saturday, is eligible to come off of IR as soon as tomorrow, as the placement was back-dated to the injury, however it’s unclear what Washington’s plan is exactly. The team had placed Orlov on IR in order to make room for fellow defenseman John Carlson, who the team activated yesterday. Should they wish to activate Orlov, a corresponding roster move would be necessary. Not joining the Capitals on their trip is forward T.J. Oshie, who is on IR dealing with a lower-body injury.
  • New York Rangers forward Vitali Kravtsov will not play tonight when the Rangers take on the Predators in Nashville. The forward is dealing with a stomach bug, reports Mollie Walker of the New York Post. Kravtsov, 22, has just one point in six games so far in his return to North America.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Elmer Soderblom

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7:38 pm: CapFriendly has announced the terms of the deal, which carries a cap hit of $878,333:

2022-23: $750,000 base + $92,500 signing bonus + $82,500 performance bonus
2023-24: $775,000 base + $92,500 signing bonus + $57,500 performance bonus
2024-25: $832,500 base + $92,500 signing bonus

The contract carries a minor salary of $70,000 in all three seasons.

1:12 pm: The Detroit Red Wings have signed another interesting Swedish prospect, this time inking Elmer Soderblom to a three-year entry-level contract. The sixth-round pick is coming off a breakout season with Frolunda of the SHL.

It’s hard to focus on anything other than the size of Soderblom, given his 6’8″ frame. The massive forward is finally starting to find his way offensively though, leading to a very interesting package of size and skill. In 52 games this season he registered 21 goals, good enough to tie him for seventh in league scoring. If he can continue the same development trajectory, the Red Wings might have found a late-round steal that can actually contribute to their lineup down the road.

They certainly would have gotten a good look. Soderblom has played with top prospect Simon Edvinsson on Frolunda going back to their junior days, meaning the Red Wings have seen his progression first hand while watching their prized draft pick recently. Signing him now will get him into the organization, and since his contract has expired in Sweden, it could actually mean he’ll be joining the Grand Rapids Griffins next season.

Even if he goes back for another year, the 20-year-old Soderblom is a player to watch for Detroit fans and one that has a massive ceiling if he can continue to marry size and skill as he did this year. His entry-level deal will kick in no matter where he plays, making him an RFA in the summer of 2025.

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