Utah RFA, former first-rounder reportedly considering returning to Europe

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Cooper Godin
September 14, 2024 (6:16 PM)

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A Utah HC RFA and former first-rounder is reportedly considering returning to home country for the 2024-25 season.

Since coming over to North America for the COVID-shortened 2021 season, former Arizona Coyotes first-rounder Victor Soderstrom has had a tough time trying earn consistent minutes in the National Hockey League, finding himself bouncing up and down between the Yotes and the AHL.

In total in his four years in North America, Soderstrom has a total of 53 games of NHL experience, a number that's pretty low considering the expectations placed on him when he was selected 11th overall back in 2019.

Earlier this summer, Soderstrom became a restricted free agent and with training camps set to open around the league next week, he remains unsigned and his future in North America remains unclear.

Back in July, Soderstrom changed agents, with Craig Morgan reporting that he may be considering returning to Sweden for the upcoming season. Well, it appears that we could be getting closer to seeing Soderstrom head to Europe for the 2024-25 campaign.

According to Swedish media outlet Aftonbladet, Victor Soderstrom is close to agreeing to join his former SHL club, Brynas IF. They added that there are only small details that need to be hammered out before a contract is officially signed between Brynas IF and Soderstrom.

Note: the following is translated from Swedish.

"In recent days, there have been more and more signals that Soderstrom would very much like to play in Brynas if there are games in Europe and that the interest is mutual.

The parties (Brynas and Soderstrom's agents) have been quite far apart in the contract negotiations, but today there are strong signals that Victor Soderstrom is very close to signing for Brynas." Aftonbladet said.

Craig Morgan gave an update on Soderstrom's situation on Friday, saying that contract talks between his side and Utah have reached an impasse. Morgan also said that with there not being much of a trade market for him, Soderstrom is looking at his options in Europe.

"Per sources, 2019 first-round pick Victor Soderstrom & Utah HC have reached an impasse in contract talks." Morgan said.

He added, "There does not appear to be a suitable market to trade the RFA D-man to another NHL team so Soderstrom is exploring signing w/a European team in Sweden or Switzerland."

We'll have to wait and see if and when this contract is officially signed, but this is a bit of a blow to Utah HC and especially their AHL affiliate in Tucson. However, it's understandable from Soderstrom's perspective. With the off-season additions made by Bill Armstrong, bringing in Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino and Ian Cole, there isn't much of an opportunity yet again for Victor Soderstrom to get minutes in the NHL.

If Soderstrom does play in the Swedish Hockey League for Brynas IF this season, or elsewhere in Europe, Utah Hockey Club will retain his rights as they issued him a qualifying offer before the deadline on June 30th.

Source: Aftonbladet
Victor Söderström finalizes negotiations with Brynäs