They way the wings lineup is shaping up for the short and long-term it's starting to look like he just won't have a roster spot. It would make sense to trade him for a younger prospect. We shall see.

Lol he just spends another year in Grand Rapids. Comes up possibly with injuries. His game still needs fine tuning and personally I want to see him put up some decent point totals in the AHL. Either way he isn't getting rushed, we are definitely going to take our time with him and let his body develop into that frame.

nah, hardpressed to trade that canvas of a player.

If he earns a roster spot there well give it to him. He still needs more developing, no sense to trade him at all.

Just because Soderblom isn’t penciled into the opening night lineup doesn’t mean the Wings don’t have big plans for him. He likely spends this year in GR and gets some injury call up or post TDL NHL time, then next year is on the roster full time with Perron and Sprong being free agents after this season. The only way I see Detroit trading him is in a package for a top line player with term.

Excited to see how well he does in the AHL given a non-atrocious coach.

Imagine a Mazur-Kasper-Soderblom line for the Griffins

Horrifying.
Mazur - Kasper sounds amazing, but I fear their skills may overlap too much that it'd be better to "spread the wealth"

I def agree with that.

I hope to see that as well but I think maybe Hanas instead of Mazur. I guess we will have to see.

Granted, I am a little more unfamiliar with Mazur's game than I am Kasper's.
Kasper is a god damn hornet, dude.

I don't think he can bring back an established top line player at this time. He is very far from having that perceived value.

I wonder if there is a deal the Habs can do to get him though. Maybe a deal involving Harris and a future prospect like Mesar or Farrell. Someone who definitely has an NHL future.

What do you all think. What is a deal that is an overpayment today but is not completely a fire-able offense for a GM if he doesn't work out (you all know he's a risk).

I'm not sure. Soderblom is a player that will be inherently overpriced considering his niche skillset, although I don't believe the emergence of Tage Thompson will rocket his value (but it certainly helps). Then you gotta add on the bias-tax by fans. I don't think there's a trade out there that'll make both teams happy. Plus, I don't know Montreal's prospects enough to gauge a good return.

To add on, Yzerman doesn't really like trading his prospects.
Apparently Sebrango is the first Yzerman draftee traded. He was our 5th best LD prospect.

Fair enough. But on the tails of a Zadina mutual termination, he may be changing his tune a bit?

Zadina was a Holland pick that wanted a bigger role than his performance allowed. Zadina has worked his ass off, but his performance just doesn't cut the top-6, which he likely wanted.

The way this wings team is shaping up, I can see Soderblom getting relegated to bottom 6 status as well.

My projection would be bottom-6 -- I'd be happy if he pans out as a good 3rd liner, but he'll most definitely be seeing PP1 time.
Zadina would be lucky to see PP2.

Net front presence or bumper?

Being that he's 6'8" and has great hands, the easy answer is net-front, but I don't think he'll be chained there. Dude can also shoot (being 250 lbs obviously helps with that).

3rd line LW and PP1... Not sure that's a real thing in the NHL. If he's good enough to play PP1, he should be good enough for 5-on-5 top 6!

Absolutely net front with his hands.

Söderblom is almost guaranteed a roster spot next season and Fabbri is likely to be gone in two years time so there's no risk for Detroit to keep Big Elmer.

I do like Mesar as a prospect but Detroit is flush with right shooting wingers at the moment so his value to us right now isn't that high.

Oh they exist. Since the PP is mainly in the offensive zone, players who aren't the best at back checking can excel.
Being 6'8" 250 lbs, you can assume that his skating isn't a strong suit.

Elmer's weakness is that he's not a playmaker and his passing isn't that good. He doesn't drive the play but he's a really good shot and great at keeping the puck away from opponents.

Detroit has a pretty famous example of a guy like that, Tomas Holmstrom. He could hang in there 5 on 5 in the top 6 but realistically would have been better suited further down the lineup. He was a master in front of the net though, so he was stapled there for the powerplay

Oskar Sundqvist did the same last season for us. Soderblom wouldn't be the first guy we've given bottom 6 5 on 5 mins to but pp1 time

With his combination of size and skill, I doubt Detroit trades him. But IF they did I’d imagine it’d be a package of Soderblom and picks for a top line guy.

Soderblom definitely has the opportunity to earn a top 6 spot but i see him settling in on the 3rd line(maybe 2nd) in a couple of years while getting PP1 time.