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Islanders RFA Linus Soderstrom Signs With Ässät In Finland

By Matt O'Leary

TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 4: A shot gets by Linus Soderstrom #30 of Team Sweden against Team Russia during a semi-final game in the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship at the Air Canada Centre on January 4, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Team Russia defeated Team Sweden 4-2 to advance to the gold medal game against Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 4: A shot gets by Linus Soderstrom #30 of Team Sweden against Team Russia during a semi-final game in the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship at the Air Canada Centre on January 4, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Team Russia defeated Team Sweden 4-2 to advance to the gold medal game against Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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The New York Islanders former fourth-round pick from 2014, Linus Soderstrom has signed with Ässät for 2020-2021.

At one time, it looked like Linus Soderstrom was going to be the goalie from the 2014 class to play for the Islanders and Ilya Sorokin looked like the pipedream. Now, less than a month after signing Sorokin, Soderstrom is heading to Finland.

According to Brennan Klak, Soderstrom is signing with Ässät after spending the last couple of years in the Islanders system.

It wasn’t a fun trip for Soderstrom unfortunately, as he never played a game in the AHL for the Isles. He missed the entire 2018-2019 season due to injury and played just four games for the Worcester Railers in the ECHL this season.

In those four games, he had a .870 save percentage and a 4.49 goals against average. Instead of giving it another go in North America, he’ll take his talents back to Europe at age 24, where he was once a promising prospect.

Keep in mind, we’re just three years removed from a great season in the SHL. He posted a .943 save percentage and a 1.34 goals against average in 2016-2017 with HV71. In the playoffs he was solid as well posting a .922 save percentage and a 2.11 goals against average.

The next year, in just 14 starts, he took a step back with a .894 save percentage and a 2.79 goals against average.

last year for Ässät, Daniil Tarasov got a majority of the starts, playing in 41 games going 11-17-9 with a .899 save percentage and a 2.72 goals against average. Tarasov was a third round pick in 2017 from the Columbus Blue Jackets.

With Soderstrom going back to Europe, the Islanders goalie depth in the system looks weak. Jakub Skarek is signed to an ELC, as he split time between the AHL and ECHL. As of now, he looks like the front runner for the Bridgeport job.

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Both Jared Coreau and Christopher Gibson, who held down the net for the Sound Tigers, are UFA’s so perhaps they decide to bring one of them back to play with Skarek. As for Soderstrom, this looks like the end of the line for his NHL career.

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