Chicago Blackhawks acquire Swedish machine from the Utah Hockey Club at trade deadline

The Chicago Blackhawks added some needed depth to the roster today in a small trade with the Utah Hockey Club.

The deal saw GM Kyle Davidson trade the Blackhawks 2026 6th-round pick in exchange for Victor Soderstrom, Shea Weber( Retired), and prospect Aku Raty.

The trade was merely an addition to the Blackhawks' depth in Rockford, with Victor Soderstrom, and Aku Raty.

The Blackhawks are the latest owners of Shea Weber's contract, which will help them hit the salary cap floor in the NHL.

Shea Weber's contract is only used as a placeholder on the team's roster, and fortunately for the team, they're only on the hook for the retired defenseman's $7.86 million cap hit for another season.

Victor Soderstrom is a former 11th overall draft pick in the 2019 NHL draft and at age 24 could turn out to be useful for the Blackhawks' rebuild.

With the new blood trickling into Chicago, Soderstrom can continue to develop into the defenseman the Arizona Coyotes, now Utah HC hoped he could be.

As we know how well the IceHogs are at developing prospects.

Soderstrom has tallied only 11 points in 53 career NHL games, and 82 points in 170 AHL games. Could the Blackhawks find a way to get it to translate to the NHL for Soderstrom?

Joining him is Aku Raty, who is another Arizona Coyote's draft pick from 2019, who has only tallied 19 points (4 G, 15 A) with the Utah HC AHL team this year.

Last season the 23-year-old Finn, showed the AHL how much of an offensive weapon he can be scoring 44 points in 55 games.

But now seems to be suffering a sophomore slump in the minors.

While this trade could be underwhelming, this trade is all about the future of the franchise.

Could either one make it as a regular in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks?

And will Chicago be the landing spot for Jakub Voracek's contract next?