During the prospect tournament, I’ve looked up to the executives watching the Red Wings’ prospect tournament from the “owners’ suite,” where Shawn Horcoff, Dan Cleary, GM Steve Yzerman, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Niklas Kronwall and other Wings personnel take in prospect tournament games.
I kept having a feeling that the slightly-built, now slightly-balding Swedish guy with a tan was one Nicklas Lidstrom, and this evening, Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom confirms as much, while discussing Elmer Soderblom’s performance thus far with the Red Wings great.
What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:
Lidas pays tribute to Soderblom’s effort last night
LOS ANGELES. The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects had a three-goal lead in last night’s rookie tournament game against the Dallas Stars in Traverse City, Michigan.
But they lost in the end, 5-4.
Elmer Soderblom, 21, was one of the bright spots with his 1-0 goal and impressive play.
“Elmer was good tonight. He created a lot on his own and showed how good he is at protecting the puck and using his size,” says Nicklas Lidstrom to SportExpressen.
“Lidas” is in Traverse City to follow the 2022 NHL Prospect Tournament, as is another one of the team’s former Swedish defensive stars, Niklas Kronwall.
Both have active roles in the team’s new venture, which is led by general manager Steve Yzerman.
Lidstrom has the title of Vice President of Hockey Operations, while Kronwall works with player development in Europe.
Elmer Soderblom was drafted in the 6th round in 2019, and with his size, he’s an interesting player in the Red Wings’ pipeline, after a successful season with Frolunda in the SHL last season, where he posted 21 goals and 33 points in 52 games.
Soderblom measures 201 cm and weighs 98 kilos. He showed during Saturday’s rookie game against Dallas how difficult he is to stop when he uses his size and reach.
“He is an exciting talent, and we have high hopes that he can become an NHL player,” said coach Ben Simon, who coaches Detroit’s farm team, the Grand Rapids Griffins, in the AHL.
On June 9th of this year, Elmer Soderblom signed a 3-year contract with Detroit worth a total of $2.775 million dollars, which corresponds to approximately 29.8 million Swedish Kronor.
The annual salary amounts to 9.9 million SEK.
Soderblom was not the only Swede on the Red Wings’ rookie team who ended up on the scoresheet in the night’s exhibition game. Albert Johansson had a shot which was deflected by Trenton Bliss, giving the team a 2-1 lead.
Elmer Soderblom opened the scoring with his 1-0 goal, 53 seconds into the second period. He dashed to the right goalpost and slotted in a cross-ice pass.
