Red Wings send Elmer Soderblom to Grand Rapids (Not for Conditioning)

The Detroit Red Wings activated Elmer Soderblom from the injured list and sent him to the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

This is not a conditioning assignment. He is a Griffin until further notice.

His demotion was not unexpected. Jonatan Berggren has generated offense since being promoted. He scored Detroit’s lone goal last night in a 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers to give him four goals and five assists for nine points in 13 games.

More important: Soderblom showed he wasn’t quite ready for NHL duty. He had his moments, but the Red Wings would like to see him get better at protecting the puck. Soderblom is only 21 and time in Grand Rapids should give him a chance for some more development time. He came from the Swedish Hockey League without playing in North America.

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The 6-foot-8 left wing had two goals in 13 games. The Red Wings hope Soderblom will be an NHL scorer after he develops more. He was in his third season in the SHL when his game started to come together.

In other Grand Rapids news, Red Wings prospect goalie Victor Brattstrom, 25, was sent to the Toledo Walleye. He will join Sebastian Cossa there. That leaves Magnus Hellberg and Jussi Olkinuora as Grand Rapids’ goalies.  Brattstrom’s stay in Toledo should be short.

Hellberg, 31, is on a conditioning assignment, meaning he can only stay five games or two weeks. He has played two games for Grand Rapids and owns a 2.55 goals-against average and .937 save percentage.