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Red Wings Prospect Soderblom Named EHC Young Player of Year

Red Wings prospect Elmer Soderblom is the Alliance of European Hockey Clubs Player of the Year.

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2 years ago

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Elmer Soderblom, Detroit Red Wings
Elmer Soderblom is the 2nd straight Red Wings prospect named EHC Young Player of the Year.

Elmer Soderblom is the Alliance of European Hockey Clubs Young Player of the Year. It’s the second year in a row that the winner is a future Detroit Red Wings player.

And if Soderblom turns out to be as good of an NHLer as last year’s winner Moritz Seider, then the Red Wings fan base will turn into a festival of enamel from the perma smiles etched on their collective faces.

Soderblom, who recently signed a three-year entry-level contract with Detroit, edged out an outstanding crop of prospects for the award. It’s a group that is including fellow Detroit prospect Simon Edvinsson.

This is also a case of history repeating itself. Among the runners-up to Seider last season was Wings forward prospect Jonatan Berggren.

Soderblom Enjoys Breakout Campaign

During the 2021-22 SHL season, Frolunda left-winger Soderblom was looming as large on the ice as his 6-foot-8, 249-pound frame. He finished as the club’s leading goal scorer with 21.

Soderblom led the SHL in game-winning goals (eight) and 5-on-5 goals (14). He produced six points in nine playoff games posted 6-3-9 numbers in 11 Champions Hockey Leauge matches. As well, he appeared in his first games with the senior Swedish national team.

“It’s a great honor to win this award with all the great players who have won it before and all the others who were nominated,” Soderblom said on the EHC website. “It was great to play in front of the fans again this season after the pandemic and I would like to thank them, and also my teammates.

“Frolunda has been huge for me and for my development. I think their program and the way they develop players is something special.”

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The award goes to the best U22 player in European hockey. Along with his Frolunda teammate Edvinsson, other finalists for EHC Young Player of the Year were New York Islanders prospect Aatu Raty (Jokerit, Finland) and 2022 NHL entry draft-eligible players Simon Nemec of Slovakia’s HK Nitra and Juraj Slafkovsky of Finland’s TPS Turku.

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