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Colorado Avalanche: Carl Soderberg Quietly Stepping Up
The Colorado Avalanche will be relying on a lot of depth next season, as their top six is lacking proven skill. However, Carl Soderberg is quietly contributing to the cause of the Colorado Avalanche in ways that should not be taken for granted.
When the Colorado Avalanche signed Carl Soderberg last summer it was clear that Ryan O’Reilly would be on his way out. That turned out to be true, as O’Reilly was traded just one day after Soderberg’s acquisition.
Soderberg is of course five years older than O’Reilly, and his future is not as bright, as he’ll turn 31 on October 12, right before the 2016-17 season begins.
However, both O’Reilly and Soderberg could be considered two way forwards, and even though Soderberg is a downgrade on the skill set of O’Reilly, he’s cheaper and still produces at the rate of a second line forward.
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Surprisingly, O’Reilly has more NHL game experience than Soderberg, with 498 games played, as opposed to Soderberg’s 243 games played, but that’s a story with plenty of adversity for Soderberg, and it can be read right here. Nonetheless, both produce at a similar rate; O’Reilly produces at a .614 points per game pace, while Soderberg produces at a .596 points per game pace.
Even though O’Reilly has the higher upside because he’s younger, the Avalanche were still able to pull a fair replacement for O’Reilly prior to the trade happening. Furthermore, the return for O’Reilly may end up being a win for the Avalanche, but that’s a story for another time.
Let’s move on to some of the intangibles that Soderberg brings to the team.
Soderberg Plays in All Situations for the Avalanche
The combination of Soderberg and Blake Comeau last season was probably the most aggressive and productive penalty-killing forward unit that the Avalanche had.
Soderberg, Comeau, and John Mitchell all lead the Avalanche forwards in short-handed time-on-ice per game (SH TOI/GP) with an average of 2:00 minutes a game respectively. Obviously, the Avalanche were dependent upon Soderberg when they were a man down, and his two way skills justified that dependence.
Aside from his penalty killing prowess, Soderberg also produced at five-on-five with second-line center success. He averaged the most minutes he’s had during his career with an 18:01 average time-on-ice (ATOI), while registering 35 of his 51 points during even strength play.
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Soderberg was also 43rd in Selke Trophy competition, which is pretty good because he got ranked, something that he hadn’t done in his previous three seasons. For comparison, O’Reilly came in 33rd for Selke competition last season.
Finally, Soderberg also played a good amount of power-play minutes, registering top-five in ATOI power-play minutes for a forward — if Mikkel Boedker is excluded (he only played 18 games for the Avalanche).
After losing a player like Ryan O’Reilly — an all situation type player — the Avalanche needed to sign a player like Soderberg who could somewhat fill the role while the Avalanche waited for the talent from the O’Reilly trade to develop.
Soderberg Getting a Shot at the World Cup of Hockey
It is Carl Soderberg’s consistency over the last three seasons that have given him a chance to represent Sweden in this year’s World Cup of Hockey.
In other words, Soderberg is finally getting a chance to represent his country in international play (aside from what he did in Juniors) because he has played consistently enough to earn that right.
Furthermore, he’ll also be playing with Gabriel Landeskog in just a few short weeks at the World Cup, and the two of them might develop some chemistry as well. Perhaps the line of Landeskog — Soderberg — and Mikko Rantanen from last year’s training camp and preseason will be reunited this year.
Regardless of what the World Cup of Hockey ends up meaning for Soderberg’s continued development, the Colorado Avalanche are lucky to have such a responsibly gifted center to replace O’Reilly.
If the acquisitions from the O’Reilly trade can start to make their contributions felt, then the Avalanche will certainly feel the benefits of winning the O’Reilly trade, as well as acquiring a top quality talent from the Boston Bruins to replace O’Reilly in the lineup.
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