The Boston Bruins have a new defenseman, and he could be a good one.
It required a trade and a new contract to get Victor Soderstrom on board.
The 24-year old’s rights were held by the Chicago Blackhawks. Earlier this week, the Bruins traded a seventh-round pick and defenseman prospect Ryan Mast for those rights.
Then on Saturday, the Bruins and Soderstrom agreed on a one-year, two-way deal worth $775,000. The deal was announced by Boston.
Soderstrom won the award in the Swedish league this past season as the league’s top defenseman. He had nine goals and 28 assists in 49 games while putting up a plus-28 rating.
He was once the No. 11 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft by the Coyotes.
Soderstrom spent four seasons playing in Arizona, appearing in 53 games total.
He left for Sweden before this past season rather than follow the relocated Coyotes to Utah.
Utah then traded Soderstrom’s rights to Chicago, who now moved him on to Boston.
He’s a nice low-risk pickup for the Bruins, who will be looking for help in returning to their winning ways after a really tough 2024-25 season.
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