C/W Elmer Söderblom - Frölunda HC, SWE JRs (2019, 159th, DET)

[Preposterone]

That trex line completely dominated Montreal in terms of offensive opportunities. I’m looking forward to seeing them against a roster that isn’t ahl tier

 

[CanadienShark]

I'm guessing he fell because of size.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

WHo names their kid Elmer???

 

[Torspo21]

WHo names their kid Elmer???

 

[Hazy Little Thing]

WHo names their kid Elmer???

The hell is wrong with the name Elmer?

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

 

[Pavels Dog]

I'm guessing he fell because of size.

NHL GMs are a bunch of size queens. If you're not under 6'7 they think you can't play.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

WHo names their kid Elmer???

Mr and Mrs Fudd

 

[cjeagle]

First game and I am getting Calder trophy vibes already. Back to back Detroit awards.

 

[JohanFranzenstein]

What person in their right mind wants to go into the corner with a skating tree?

 

[dekelikekocur]

What person in their right mind wants to go into the corner with a skating tree?

The kid has some serious potential. As he fills out more it's just gonna be that much harder for anyone to battle with him.

Not a disrespect against the Habs but I'm looking forward to seeing what he does against higher quality competition where he ends up mismatched against a top line talent like Matthews or MacK. Gotta see how well the kid does against skaters who are known for being strong on their skates.

 

[jackp0t]

He's 21 years old playing on 3rd line, of course he's gonna be mismatch agaisnt a number 1 line, so would most 3rd line in the league. His got much better tools to prevail defensively than say a Lucas Raymond so i'm not worried about Soderblom one bit...his worst case he's a 20 goals scorer that can forecheck.

Matthews was scoreless agaisnt the Habs on Wednesday so there's no free lunch in the NHL.

 

[Garo]

Watching a 21 years old in his first nhl game push down low and maintain possession for large periods of time, then watching Anderson fumble pucks by himself for 5.5 a year was just more evidence for why I hate Bergevin so much.

 

[brakeyawself]

Like a giant eating an apple in front of starving homunculus. (spell correction lol)

 

[My3Sons]

Like a giant eating an apple in front of starving homonculus.

Props for using homunculus

 

[Zaddy]

It's honestly so cool to see what Söderblom has developed into. I remember scouting Frölunda J18 in some dingy rink in southern Sweden (mostly for the sake of Lucas Raymond, who you already knew would become a star one day) and there was this huge 6'6 dude playing against kids. He may not have been the best player out there but he had some really sweet set of mittens on him (and wasn't a half-bad skater either) which is quite unusual for a man that size. Even with his size and hands the chances of him becoming an impactful forward at the NHL level felt very slim so, like Detroit, I probably wouldn't have picked him any earlier than the 6th round either. Very happy for him though, he must've put in a lot of work over the years to get to where he is at now.

 

[lilidk]

We don't talk about him lately, but he is supposed to be one of the most important future pieces

 

[GoBoltz56]

He's been quiet in grand rapids.

 

[Reddwit]

We don't talk about him lately, but he is supposed to be one of the most important future pieces

I don’t think he’s ever held that distinction. He’s a fun prospect and would be an asset if he pans out but a guy most see as having a middle sex ceiling isn’t going to make or break your rebuild.

 

[GoBoltz56]

I don’t think he’s ever held that distinction. He’s a fun prospect and would be an asset if he pans out but a guy most see as having a middle sex ceiling isn’t going to make or break your rebuild.

Your phone knows what you're really thinking about

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Any Detroit fans have an insight what kind of career would be expected? ATM
goal, point production wise, frustrating player?

21 games in the NHL, 5 goals, 3 assists, 44 games in the AHL, 8 goals, 12 assists

A long project type of player?
Current Detroit line up, zero room?

 

[RedHawkDown]

Hes unlikely to be more than a 3rd liner. His issue is that he does not use his size.

 

[Hazy Little Thing]

Hes unlikely to be more than a 3rd liner. His issue is that he does not use his size.

He doesn’t use his size defensively*

He does a very good job using his size to protect the puck.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

He doesn’t use his size defensively*

He does a very good job using his size to protect the puck.

That is, when he has the puck. My issue with him is that he lacks the motor to drive himself into those puck battles to get the puck in the first place. He needs to have that urgency every shift, not when he decides to. There are much smaller players that are simply much more hungrier than him.

These kind of things sometimes are the deciding factor of certain guys making the NHL player or not.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Any progress updates for Soderblom in GR?