Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan discussed what he's liking from towering forward Elmer Soderblom despite his having only scored once in 22 games.
Detroit Red Wings forward Elmer Soderblom is the tallest player in franchise history, a considerable statistical reality considering the club is playing in its centennial campaign.
However, despite earning a spot on the team out of Training Camp and the pre-season for the second time in his career, Soderblom's offensive production still needs some growing.
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Through the first 22 games that he's appeared in, Soderblom has a single goal along with an assist. While he would like to be more of an offensive threat, Soderblom said that he feels he's playing with more consistency and wants to be a physical presence in the hard areas around the net.
"I feel like I've been playing more and more consistently and improving some stuff, but I still want to play even better, play more minutes," he said. "I want to use my size to my advantage to make an impact at this level, like playing physically and taking the puck to the net, be tough around the net and be an offensive threat."
"I'm not trying to focus too much on the points, I'm just trying to play my role and do my job, and kind of take it from there," he continued. "I just want to contribute to the team in every way I can, and just keep improving every single game."
During Soderblom's first foray into the NHL in the 2022-23 campaign, he had five goals and three assists in 21 games played before returning to the Grand Rapids Griffins. Last season, after being called up from the Griffins in the latter half of the season, he managed four goals with seven assists in 26 games played.
Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan noted that Soderblom's undisclosed injury last month, which caused him to miss several games and land on the Injured Reserve list, certainly didn't help matters for the towering Swede, but that his game has improved over the last sample size.
"I think over the last 10 games, it's starting tocome a little better," McLellan said. "He's got great hands, a pretty good idea of how the game should be played, and he can be physical and shoot the puck. You put all of that together on any given night, and you've got a real good player. But if one or two of those elements is missing a little bit, you struggle a little bit. We're trying to get it all together with him and get him (more) confident."
"Stats like one (goal) in 22 (games), he knows that, you know it and I know that," he continued. "It's not ideal for him, but I think he has the ability to break that and contribute. He did a little bit more of that down the stretch last season and we expect that moving forward."
Soderblom did ultimately score his second goal of the game on Saturday afternoon against the Washington Capitals, his first tally in 17 games.
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