After obtaining the rights to Swedish defenseman Victor Soderstrom on Friday, the Bruins inked the blueliner to a one-year, two-way deal that carries an NHL cap hit of $775,000 on Saturday.
Originally the 11th overall pick of the Arizona Coyotes in 2019, Soderstrom was obtained from the Chicago Blackhawks for defenseman Ryan Mast and a 2025 seventh round pick. Soderstrom had never played for the Blackhawk organization, which had picked him up from Arizona/Utah when they took on the Shea Weber contract.
In 53 games with Arizona over parts of four NHL seasons, Soderstrom posted 1-10-11 totals. In 170 career AHL games with Tucson, he had 16-66-82 totals.
But the 6-foot, 196-pound Soderstrom had a good 2024-25 season for Brynas IF of the Swedish Hockey League, posting 9-28-37 and was plus-28 in 49 games.
As of now, they have an opening on the right side after the Brandon Carlo deadline trade. They picked up Henri Jokiharju to fill the spot for the remainder of the ‘24-25 season, but Jokiharju is still scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Whether Soderstrom can fill a hole on the back end will most likely be sussed out in training camp, but the B’s will most likely need to procure more veteran help on the back end.
Mast, meanwhile, was a sixth round pick (181st overall) for the Bruins in 2021. He spent much of 2023-24, his first pro season, playing for the Maine Mariners of the ECHL. In 2024-25, he played 37 games for Providence with five assists and was plus-7.
