Utah Hockey Club places former first round pick on trading block

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Liam McCormick
July 14, 2024 (5:27 PM)

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Earlier today, PHNX Sports reporter Craig Morgan reported that the Utah Hockey Club is exploring trades for their 2019 first round draft pick Victor Soderstron.

Also hearing that while Utah is open to re-signing RFA D-man Victor Söderström, the team is also exploring trades for the 2019 11th overall pick.

Söderström, 23, has yet to establish any kind of NHL foothold, totaling 53 NHL games (1 G, 11 pts.) over the past three seasons.

The new ownership in Utah has clearly made it a priority to get the team competing for the playoffs as soon as possible, and will be hoping that Soderstrom can net them more immediate help for their roster. They've already added Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino, and Ian Cole on defence, so Utah could be in the market to add a forward.

Now 23 years old, Soderstrom hasn't been able to stick in the NHL lineup since he's been drafted. Over the course of four seasons with the Coyotes, he's only appeared in 53 games, scoring 1 goal and 11 points. He's currently an unsigned restricted free agent, so it's unlikely that Utah could receive any quality assets for Soderstrom in trade. He has shown promise at the AHL level though, so it could be a solid reclamation project for a willing team.

Looking back on Soderstrom's draft in 2019, it's extremely interesting to see how weak of a draft class that year was. Those prospects were perhaps the most affected by the COVID 19 seasons, which cancelled plenty of minor league hockey for extended periods of time. Plenty of players have made the NHL and are solid players, but very little high end elite talent came out of the 2019 Draft. Who knows, maybe Soderstrom and more of these prospects just need more time.

Source: Craig Morgan