Soderberg, 29, has been a fine complementary centre, putting up 94 points in 161 games during two-plus years with the Bruins. He hasn't been a great possession player overall, but the 6-foot-3, 216-pound pivot fared well when given the opportunity to play with fellow Swede Loui Eriksson in Boston.
In Colorado, Soderberg fits behind Matt Duchene as a second-line centre, and that's going to give Soderberg the chance to play with some skilled linemates. As more of a playmaker than finisher, Soderberg should help facilitate the offence for Avalanche shooters like Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Jarome Iginla.
Soderberg comes at fair value, signed to a five-year, $23.5-million contract. It's no bargain, but a reasonable price for a second-line centre. The test on value will be in how Soderberg ages as an NHL player. By the last year of the deal, he will be 34, so decline will certainly be expected to set in, but he also didn't arrive in the NHL full-time until he was 28-years-old, so Soderberg doesn't necessarily have the same wear on his body that a typical 30-year-old NHLer would have. If he can't contribute as a top-six forward in the last couple years of this contract, that's less than ideal, but not calamitous if Soderberg is at least a regular in Colorado's top nine.
In a vacuum, this move makes the Avalanche a better team, adding an established NHL forward before the free agent market gets into full swing, but it also appears to be a move with an eye towards another. With Colorado apparently having difficulty coming to an agreement on a new contract with Ryan O'Reilly, who is slated to be a free agent next summer, the addition of Soderberg by the Avalanche sure seems like a pre-emptive action so that Colorado can trade O'Reilly, perhaps to acquire much-needed defensive help.
