Meet Your New Bruins: Victor Soderstrom

Going into the 2019 NHL Draft, he was ranked third amongst European skaters by NHL Central Scouting and was predicted to be selected somewhere between 10 and 20. He was praised for his two-way play and considered one of the best defensemen in the draft, with the potential to become a top-pairing defenseman.

Ultimately, Soderstrom was selected 11th overall by the Arizona Coyotes, joining a number of exciting prospects in their pipeline. As of this season, the Coyotes have been relocated to Utah, becoming the Utah Mammoth.

Struggles in North America

After the 2019 Draft, Soderstrom remained in Sweden for the 2019-20 season, playing 35 games in the SHL where he registered five goals and 16 points. In 2020-21, he made the move to North America. He primarily spent that season in the AHL playing for the Tucson Roadrunners. But he also made his NHL debut that season, appearing in four games and registering a goal and an assist. 

Over the next three seasons, Soderstrom struggled to crack the Coyotes’ lineup, splitting time between the NHL and the AHL. He has appeared in a total of 53 NHL games, registering one goal and 11 points in that time. He got his longest look at the NHL level in the 2022-23 season when he played 30 of his 53 games.

Given where he was selected, there was certainly pressure for him to make the leap to the NHL as soon as possible, but Soderstrom never quite found his footing. Last summer, after Utah made a number of defenseman signings, it became clear that he wasn’t going to find success in that organization, opting to return to Europe on a two-year deal with Brynas IF.

This season, his rights were traded to Chicago along with Aku Raty and Shea Weber’s contract in exchange for a 2026 fifth-round pick. But things weren’t able to get done between him and the Blackhawks with his rights being traded away a few months later to the Bruins, who subsequently signed him to a one-year contract.

What He Brings to the Bruins

Soderstrom is coming off of a solid season in the SHL. He had nine goals and 28 assists, 37 total points in 49 games, and was awarded the top defenseman award. He’s cheap, signing a one-year, $775,000 two-way contract, and gives the team another option on the right side of the blue line. Yes, they’ll probably have to sign someone else for the right side, given they lost Brandon Carlo at the deadline and Henri Jokiharju is a free agent, but the team needs options, and he has potential. 

It was not a smooth transition into the NHL for Soderstrom, but I do think we should take into consideration that he was making that initial transition during the COVID pandemic. Trying to adjust to a new level of competition, a new-sized rink (he did not go the route that many European skaters take by playing a season or two in the Canadian junior leagues to get experience playing on a smaller rink), all while during a global pandemic, certainly cannot be easy. From that point, he just couldn’t get his footing underneath him. 

Now, he’s a bit older and is hopefully better prepared for a second stint in North America. He is not that far removed from being considered a guy that could be a top-pairing defenseman and impact player on an NHL roster. Soderstrom is definitely someone fans should keep an eye out for during training camp as he could take some people by surprise. Given the question marks on the Bruins’ right side of the blue line, he could sneak himself into a full-time NHL position.

This is an opportunity for a reset for Soderstrom. A year from now, this could be a signing looked back on as a genius move by general manager (GM) Don Sweeney. Or it doesn’t work out, and at the end of the day, the Bruins didn’t give up much to get him. It’s a move with great potential gains and no real losses when all is said and done. Hopefully for all sides, this second stint in North American hockey ends up working out much better for the young Swede.