Philip Broberg vs Victor Soderstrom

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Lundkvist is a better player right now than Soderstrom.

I think Soderstrom is a little more talented with his hockey IQ and skill level, but Lundkvist is better currently. Their games aren't that different. There are similarities.

Broberg plays a completely different style of hockey from both.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

If you watched Soderstrom with Brynas his PPQB skills and shot creation are sneaky good. He seems to focus more on defense but I got why Arizona took him where they did. I don’t think either will ever be top-10 point producers as NHL defensemen.

I also think Broberg gets beat up too much for his numbers. I’m guilty of it too. But Oilers need to decide at some point if the future is a Broberg-Bouchard pairing or split them up and see who wins the No. 1.

Broberg carried his pairing before just not consistently.

 

[Llamamoto]

If you watched Soderstrom with Brynas his PPQB skills and shot creation are sneaky good. He seems to focus more on defense but I got why Arizona took him where they did. I don’t think either will ever be top-10 point producers as NHL defensemen.

I also think Broberg gets beat up too much for his numbers. I’m guilty of it too. But Oilers need to decide at some point if the future is a Broberg-Bouchard pairing or split them up and see who wins the No. 1.

Broberg carried his pairing before just not consistently.

I'm not really sure what you mean here. Why (and how) do we need to decide whether they'll play together?

 

[Steve Kournianos]

It’s actually a good question. Stylistically they’re similar. Both like to hit and can skate. Both hold their line and clear the crease. Both give a hard first pass. Both love to shoot more than create.

I still think Bjornfot is better though. Was surprised so many had such a huge gap between them.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

I'm not really sure what you mean here. Why (and how) do we need to decide whether they'll play together?

I’m talking 4-5 years down the road. Thats why I said “at some point”.It is incredibly difficult to have a No. 1 on two pairings. So what does Holland foresee? Also competition is a good thing. It could bring out their best. These were top-10 picks and they passed on some thoroughbreads to take them instead. You have to assume at least one was drafted to be groomed as a No. 1

 

[Llamamoto]

I’m talking 4-5 years down the road. Thats why I said “at some point”.It is incredibly difficult to have a No. 1 on two pairings. So what does Holland foresee? Also competition is a good thing. It could bring out their best. These were top-10 picks and they passed on some thoroughbreads to take them instead. You have to assume at least one was drafted to be groomed as a No. 1

Ok, that makes more sense.

They could be a great pairing down the road, they're basically polar opposites of each other. Broberg's a great skater and is very capable defensively, whereas Bouchard's strengths are his offensive instincts, passing, and shot. They could compliment each other for a great top pairing, but there's also a chance that they don't mesh well.

The thing I'm curious about is who's going to have to go. The Oilers are going to have a plethora of defensemen soon:

Klefbom - Larsson
Nurse - Bear
Broberg - Bouchard
Samorukov
Jones

Larsson probably won't last beyond the 2020-2021 season, but we're going to have a logjam on the left side pretty soon. It's not a bad problem to have by any means, but there's a good chance we're going to trade a talented LHD in the near future.