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Report: Bruins Won't Offer Contract To Carl Soderberg

BOSTON (CBS) -- The Carl Soderberg saga in Boston was at times captivating, other times promising, and still other times disappointing.

And now, it appears to be over.

The Boston Globe reported Sunday that the Bruins have chosen to not offer a contract to the free-agent forward.

Soderberg's agent told the Globe that the Bruins "can't make an offer at this juncture."

The decision is not altogether surprising. For one, Soderberg took nine years after being drafted before actually committing to playing in the NHL, and his focus seemed to wane in the latter part of the most recent Bruins season. After scoring eight goals and tallying 19 assists for 27 points in the first 38 games of the year, Soderberg scored just five goals with 12 assists for 17 points in his final 44 games of the season. He registered four fewer points than he did the year prior, despite playing nine fewer games in 2013-14.

Last week, The Daily Mail reported that Soderberg had purchased a multi-million dollar mansion in his home country of Sweden.

The Bruins originally acquired Soderberg in July of 2007 from the St. Louis Blues in a trade for goaltender Hannu Toivonen. Then-Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli finally coaxed Soderberg to make the leap to North America in the spring of 2013, but an extended postseason run for Soderberg's Swiss team prevented him from playing for the Bruins until late April.

Due to injuries elsewhere on the roster, Soderberg ended up playing in two games during the Stanley Cup Final, both losses to Chicago.

The Bruins fired Chiarelli this offseason after the Bruins failed to make the playoffs, and new GM Don Sweeney inherited a team that faces a number of key decisions regarding the management of the salary cap. Soderberg carried a cap hit of just over $1 million.

 

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