Elmer Soderblom shines in his first playoff game, at Detroit's expense

The 6-foot-8 Swedish winger was on the ice Saturday night in Pittsburgh as the Penguins hosted the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1, registering 3 shots on goal in 7:57 of ice time and drawing a roughing penalty from Rasmus Ristolainen just 1:53 into the first period.

Not a box-score explosion. But for a player who had never suited up in the postseason before tonight, you could see the physicality translate immediately.

Soderblom was acquired by Pittsburgh from Detroit on March 6 in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick originally belonging to San Jose. A sixth-round pick from 2019, turned into a playoff piece. Steve Yzerman gave him away at deadline for a conditional mid-round dart.

In his final 10 regular-season games before tonight's playoff opener, he posted 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points and was a plus-5. That's not a depth pickup finding his footing. That's a guy who found his whole identity once he crossed the Pennsylvania border.

Journalist Max Bultman put it plainly on X after puck drop Saturday night: "Elmer Söderblom getting to Pittsburgh and immediately finding a true power forward game (with production) is really something."

Think of it like a plant that kept getting the wrong soil. Suddenly someone repots it in the right one. Six-foot-eight, 252 pounds, and Dan Muse is actually deploying him like the bulldozer he was always supposed to be.

Detroit, meanwhile, went 2-6-2 in their final 10 regular-season games and finished with 92 points, ranked 16th overall in the league. The Red Wings' last game of the season was an 8-1 loss in Florida.

Soderblom had managed only 2 goals and 1 assist in 39 games in Detroit this season before the trade. In 20 games with Pittsburgh, he added 5 goals and 5 assists.

The Penguins entered the postseason at 41-25-16 with 98 points, tied with Philadelphia on points, both clubs landing at the same number heading into the first round. It's a genuine coin-flip series on paper.

Soderblom carries a $1.125 million cap hit through 2026-27. For a team trying to balance competing now alongside aging pillars like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, that contract efficiency matters as much as the production.

Detroit got a third-round pick that originated in San Jose. Whether that pick becomes anything useful is a question Yzerman will have to answer eventually. For now, the answer on the Pittsburgh side is sitting at left wing in the playoffs at age 24 for the first time in his career.

Where Soderblom goes from here, tonight or in this series, is still wide open.