The Carl Soderberg Watch Has Officially Begun, But Can He Help The Bruins?

SEL forward Carl Soderberg. Photo Courtesy of www.daysoforr.com

As CBS Boston so eloquently stated, “Carl Soderberg watch has officially begun in Boston,” and it finally has indeed.

A few weeks ago we reported that Carl Soderberg, a 27-year old Swedish power forward, who is property of the Boston Bruins after they traded for his rights in 2007, may finally be interested joining the Bruins.

However the team he currently plays for, Linkoping of the Swedish Elite League, were on track to make the playoffs at the time and Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli had stated he would not interfere with the team’s playoff run in his pursuit of Soderberg.

Well, today Soderberg’s team (unfortunately for them and fortunately for us) lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs and Chiarelli can now get started on really trying to bring the six-foot three Swedish sniper across the Atlantic to see what the center/wing can offer the Bruins, if anything.

Soderberg did lead the SEL in goals during the regular season with 31 and he also had 29 assists for a total of 60 points in 54 games, so he could be a decent late season acquisition for the Bruins or he could be a bust like so many Europeans before him. As of now he’s projected as a 2nd line center by some scouts, but the Bruins are said to like his versatility and would most likely use him on the wing.

If he pans out the Bruins could have themselves the 3rd line winger they’ve desperately been searching for this season after guys like Chris Bourque, Jay Pandolfo and Jordan Caron just couldn’t get it done.

Also if both Chris Kelly and Patrice Bergeron are healthy for the playoffs, which Kelly is said to be just days away from returning to action, while Bergeron is out indefinitely after suffering a moderate concussion, the Bruins would have four very solid forward lines and a lot or versatility (word of the day).

Even if Soderberg doesn’t have an immediate impact, the Bruins just added some guy named Jaromir Jagr and I’ve heard some good things about him, so I think they’ll be just fine. Especially if Kelly and Bergeron are good to go come playoff time.

Either way, the Soderberg watch has officially started and it appears as though it may only be a matter of time before he is in a Bruins jersey. It is not a slam dunk however, as there is some international red tape and some contract negotiations still needing to get done, but all signs point to Soderberg playing in at least one of the 12 games the Bruins have remaining on their regular season schedule.