Report: 'Done Deal' Between Bruins, Carl Soderberg
BOSTON (CBS) -- For more than a month, "Carl Soderberg Watch" has been on in full force in Boston. It apparently won't need to go on much longer, however, as reports trickled through Twitter on Monday night that the Bruins and the Swedish forward are very close to finalizing a deal. By Tuesday afternoon, the B's and Soderberg reportedly had a "done deal."
Kirk Luedeke of the New England Hockey Journal reported via Twitter that Soderberg's deal had been worked out, and he will be joining the team in the next week or so.
On Monday night, Luedeke tweeted that he "got a tip" that a deal between the Bruins and Soderberg was "done," adding that the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation still needed to grant his release. Dominic Tiano of the OHL Writers also tweeted that if the Bruins buy out Soderberg's Swedish contract, the SIHF will have no grounds to deny the player's release. CSNNE's Joe Haggerty also cited a source who said that the whole Soderberg deal is "very close," with the agreement in place and the only holdup being the aforementioned "international requirements."
Those formalities apparently have been worked out, based on Luedeke's tweet on Tuesday.
Luedeke initially reported that the agreement between the Bruins and Soderberg was for one year, but on Tuesday morning he reported it was a three-year agreement.
In early March, it was reported that Soderberg would join the Bruins once his Swedish Elite Season ended. That took a while, as he and Linkopings advanced past the first round. They were eliminated from the playoffs on Friday, though, and the two sides likely went to work quickly to make a deal.
Soderberg, 27, is a big-bodied forward who played center in Sweden but may be asked to play the wing in Boston. He led the Swedish Elite League with 31 goals and was second overall with 60 points in 54 games. He added a goal and an assist in six playoff games for Linkopings.
READ: Tuukka Rask In Special Sort Of Zone And Other Leftover Bruins Thoughts
Boston has owned the rights to Soderberg since a 2007 trade with St. Louis for goaltender Hannu Toivonen.
The Bruins welcomed Chris Kelly back to the lineup on Monday night after the center missed nearly a month with a broken tibia. The team is still without center Patrice Bergeron for an unspecified period, after he suffered a concussion -- the fourth of his career -- last week.
As long as Soderberg joins the Bruins during the regular season, he will be eligible for postseason play.
