Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman has completed his offseason tasks as it relates to restricted free agents. On Wednesday, the team announced that forward Elmer Soderblom has a signed a two-year deal with an AAV of $1.125 million.
Soderblom, a sixth round pick in 2019, is a towering net-front presence that has soft hands that I liken to Tomas Holmstrom. The six-foot-eight forward has 19 points in 47 NHL games, and has served 119 games for AHL affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins. Soderblom has graduated from AHL status at this point, and will serve an important role with Detroit as their feature “big.” He’s still only 23 years old, so there’s still a lot of runway left in his development.
This was the last RFA that Detroit needed to sign after Albert Johansson and Jonatan Berggren signed extensions earlier this week. It’s a good deal for both Soderblom and Detroit. I like it. You should too.
