If history is going to repeat itself in terms of the European Hockey Clubs Young Player of the Year Award, then that’s going to prove to be a very good outcome for the Detroit Red Wings.

Two Swedish Red Wings prospects are among the five finalists for the award – Frolunda defenseman Simon Edvinsson and his teammate, forward Elmer Soderblom.

Last year, two Red Wings prospects playing in Sweden were also among the finalists for the award. They were defenseman Moritz Seider, then with Rogle and forward Jonatan Berggren of Skelleftea.

Seider ended up winning the award. After a strong rookie campaign with the Red Wings, the German defenseman is the favorite to win the Calder Trophy. Berggren led the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins in scoring. He’s expected to challenge for a spot on the Detroit roster at training camp.

Edvinsson, Soderblom Big Parts Of Red Wings Future

Both Edvinsson and Soderblom are viewed as major pieces of the current Detroit rebuild.

The fourth player chosen in the 2021 NHL entry draft, Edvinsson recently was signing a three-year entry-level deal with the Red Wings. Following a stellar season in Sweden in which he was a rookie of the year finalist and was playing top-four minutes, there are expectations that he could make the club out of training camp.

Soderblom, 20, scored a team-leading 21 goals for Frolunda. Nine of his goals were game winners. Soderblom led the SHL in 5-on-5 goals.

He earned a spot on the Swedish team for the IIHF World Championship. However, Soderblom was recently dropped from the squad with the arrival of more NHL players to be joining Sweden’s roster.

Also nominated are Finnish player Aatu Raty and Slovakians Juarj Slafkosvky and Simon Nemec. Both Slafkosvky and Nemec are 2022 NHL entry draft-eligible players. There are some NHL mock drafts that are projecting defenseman Nemec sliding to the Red Wings at No. 8 in the first round.

Voting on the award is open to the public.  Go to EuroHockeyClubs.com to cast a ballot.

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