The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton offers three prospect tournament storylines to watch over the upcoming weekend, including the following:
I. Soderblom’s Progress
At age 22 and entering his second season of North American pro hockey, Elmer Soderblom is still very much a prospect.
Nonetheless, as a 2019 draft pick (round six, pick 159 to be precise), he will be one of the most experience players at the event. With that seasoning and as an entry point to his 2023-24 season, it would be wonderful to see Soderblom dominate in Traverse City.
Soderblom has always been a unique prospect. There aren’t many 6-foot-8 people who play hockey, so there was never going to be a surplus of options as comparables. He has also been perceived as something of a “project” from the moment he was drafted, the expectation having always been that he would require some refinement to crack an NHL roster.
The towering Swede did just that after an outstanding training camp a year ago and played 21 games with the Wings in ’22-23, tallying five goals and three assists. However, after a combination of injuries and a dip in form sent him back to Grand Rapids, Soderblom managed the exact same output (five goals and three assists) in 20 games with the Griffins. It’s a perplexing combination, but scoring doesn’t come easily in the AHL and progress is seldom linear.
In Traverse City, you’d like to see something resembling domination out of Soderblom. Despite his stature, he profiles as more dependent on skill than brawn. As he looks to re-claim a place in the Wings’ line-up, he will need both. His stickhandling and finishing touch have been essential to his progress thus far as a player, and Detroit will benefit from their presence. Still, Soderblom realistically needs to be a player who wins battles and makes an impact on the cycle and forecheck to become an everyday NHL player. The prospect tournament will offer the first sample of his progress for the year.
