Victor Söderström has been named the top defenseman in the Swedish Hockey League for the 2024-25 season. As a result, he has been awarded the Börje Salming Trophy.

In 2019, he was picked 11th overall in the NHL Entry Draft by the Arizona Coyotes but, just five years later, he signed a two-year deal to play with his hometown team, Brynäs Gävle, which has just been promoted back to the SHL. He went on to have a spectacular season, recording 37 points in 49 regular-season games as Brynäs surprisingly finished first.

“I definitely don’t regret a thing,” Söderström is quoted on the club’s website. “It’s a slightly different path to take because I’m still young and my goal is still very much to make it in the NHL.”

That might happen next season as Söderström, now 24, was traded from Utah HC to the Chicago Blackhawks on the NHL trade deadline, and he indicated at the time that he had been seeking to get his NHL rights moved.

Victor Soderstrom Might Return To NHL After Rights Traded To Chicago: ‘We’ve Been Trying To Arrange It All Season’ Victor Söderström didn’t want to give up on the NHL so early, but it seems that he didn’t see a path to that dream running through Salt Lake City. Playing this season for Brynäs IF in the SHL, he learned on Friday – the NHL trade deadline – that his NHL rights had been traded from Utah HC to the Chicago Blackhawks along with the rights to Shea Weber – who hasn’t played since 2021 and is essentially retired – in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick.

But first things first, as Brynäs has a semifinal series coming up against Skellefteå AIK starting on Friday. Skellefteå’s lineup includes Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Jonathan Pudas, the two previous winners of the award.

“I love coming to the rink every day,” Söderström continued. “The fact that the pairing with Charles-Édouard D’Astous has worked so well has of course also meant a lot.”

D’Astous, a 26-year-old Canadian who was the top defenseman in the Finnish Liiga last season, outscored Söderström by two points this year and has also apparently drawn interest from NHL teams.

According to the Brynäs website the jury for the award described Soderstrom as:

An elegant player on the ice who has been one of the biggest contributors to newcomer Bynäs' record-breaking season in the SHL. Extremely skilled, and also a top-notch point-scorer as a defenseman. Has formed the league's best defenseman pair during the season with Charles-Édouard D’Astous.

The award for best defenseman in Sweden’s top league was named after Börje Salming in 2008, the same year the legendary defenseman was named to the IIHF’s All-Century Team. Salming died in 2022 from complications related to ALS.

Börje’s older brother Stig Salming was present when Söderström received the Salming Trophy. Both Salming brothers were also Brynäs defensemen.

“Börje would have liked this,” Stig Salming was quoted.

Previous winners of the Salming Trophy

2024-25 Victor Söderström, Brynäs
2023-24 Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Skellefteå
2022-23 Jonathan Pudas, Skellefteå
2021-22 Maja Nylén-Persson, Brynäs
2020-21 Nils Lundkvist, Luleå
2019-20 No winner due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2018-19 Erik Gustafsson, Luleå
2017-18 Lawrence Pilut, HV71
2016-17 Henrik Tömmernes, Frölunda
2015-16 Niclas Burström, Skellefteå
2014-15 Tim Heed, Skellefteå
2013-14 Patrik Hersley, Leksand
2012-13 Magnus Nygren, Färjestad
2011-12 Mattias Ekholm, Brynäs
2010-11 David Rundblad, Skellefteå
2009-10 Magnus Johansson, Linköping
2008-09 Markus Ragnarsson, Djurgården
2007-08 Mikko Luoma, HV71

Jari Kurri – 2024 Börje Salming Courage Award Winner – Is A Controversial Figure In His Home ClubOn Saturday afternoon in Tampere, hours before the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers played the second of two NHL regular-season games in the Finnish city, the NHL Alumni Association made Finnish hockey icon Jari Kurri the second recipient of the Börje Salming Courage Award.