Detroit Red Wings: 5 Free Agents They Should Go After

Apr 11, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Luke Witkowski (53) defends Boston Bruins center Carl Soderberg (34) during the third period at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Carl Soderberg
Age: 29
Position: LW
Previous team: Boston Bruins

The oldest player on my list, Carl Soderberg is someone I’m highly interested in. He spent most of his career over in Sweden playing in the Swedish Elite League for a team in Malmo. That is the first thing I really like about him. If you have ever watched SEL hockey, you would know that players over there could make some NHL goalies look silly with every trick in the book. You get a high quality of hockey from there, and having Soderberg come from there is an added plus.

Detroit Red Wings

The only thing that should worry the Red Wings if they do look into him, if he comes from the SEL league in Sweden, there is a good chance he isn’t super physical in his play. Hockey in Sweden and most European leagues tend to be focused more on skill rather than hard hits and as we saw with Matthias, if he was the second best, then Soderberg would be third best. You have to stop just settling at some point when it comes to signing free agents.

Yet there is one up side. Soderberg has spent the last three seasons with the Boston Bruins, one of the hardest hitting, nasty teams in the Eastern Conference and league. They annoy the crap out of players and if he needed a place to learn to be physical, playing alongside players like Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, and Zedeno Chara in Boston was probably the best place for him. Also the guy is 6 foot 3 not on skates if anything, he can be a big body for the team.

Next: Michael Frolik