Soderblom said he was always the biggest player on his team growing up. But his hero was a forward, Peter Forsberg, and his coaches didn’t try to make him, say, a physical defenseman.
“I think it’s important to play your own game,” he said.
He said he played soccer and wrestled, which helped him learn to control his body, until he focused exclusively on hockey at 11 or 12. He spent hours handling and shooting pucks in his backyard.
Hakan Andersson, the Red Wings director of European scouting, said Soderblom dropped hints of potential in junior hockey in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2018-19.