29-year-old NHL centerman Carl Soderberg, who was acquired from the Boston Bruins on June 25 for a sixth round pick, is happy to have an opportunity to contribute in Colorado.
With the Avs trading Ryan O’Reilly to the Buffalo Sabres in late June, Soderberg will be looked upon to produce similar results.
Due to salary cap issues, Soderberg was one of the causalities let go by Boston. However, now more than a month since the trade was finalized, Soderberg seems to be very excited about having joined the Avalanche.
Last Friday, In a phone interview with the Denver Post, Soderberg discussed how the trade went down saying, “I was waiting for Boston to come back to me, when they didn’t have room for me, my agent told me Colorado was interested in me. There was no doubt for me. Colorado is a great hockey club. I said go ahead, and then everything went really fast.”
Soderberg added that, “I just didn’t want to go through it (free agency), and when Joe and Patrick said they were interested in me, I wanted to go to Colorado right away.”
With the season still a few months out, Soderberg is expected to begin training camp on a line with wingers Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan Mackinnon, a situation that Soderberg is relishing.
“They told me they wanted me to play centerman and they like my game. I’m a two-way centerman, and they had a thought of playing me with those two guys. I’m excited.”
The St. Louis Blues drafted Soderberg in 2004 before trading him in 2007 to Boston.
When drafted, Soderberg decided to remain in his hometown of Malmo, Sweden and play for the local professional hockey team, the Malmo Redhawks. Finally, Soderberg played his first NHL game late in the 2012-13 season and to this date, Soderberg has played 161 regular season NHL games with the Bruins amassing 94 points (29G/65A).
Having found a new team where he is wanted, the 6-foot-3 Soderberg will hopefully be one of the missing pieces that will lead the Avs back to the playoffs in the 2015-16 season.
Sammy mugharbil, a Mile high Sports intern and student at MSU-Denver contributed to this report