Detroit traded Elmer Soderblom to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2026 NHL trade deadline, and the deal already looks like a miss. The Red Wings sent him out for the San Jose Sharks’ 2026 third-round pick after adding David Perron from the Ottawa Senators, then later flipped that pick to the St. Louis Blues in the Justin Faulk deal.
Soderblom has turned the move into a sharper second guess. He had two goals and one assist in 39 games for Detroit this season before the trade, then went on to score five goals and total 10 points in 20 games with Pittsburgh. For a player the Red Wings moved because they had a surplus of bottom-six forwards, the return has not matched the production he found elsewhere.
The numbers are hard on Detroit’s side. Soderblom’s output in Pittsburgh has already outpaced what he did in 39 games with the Red Wings, and that gap is why the trade is starting to look horrible in hindsight. The Sharks’ third-round pick was never held long enough to become a real asset for Detroit, since it was quickly folded into the package that brought in Faulk.
That sequence matters because it shows what deadline day can do to a roster. The Red Wings were trying to reshape their depth by adding Perron and Faulk, while Soderblom was moved out of the picture as part of that larger shuffle. Instead, he found a stronger scoring rhythm with the Penguins, and the return Detroit got has been swallowed up by the bigger moves around it.
There is no way to spin the contrast away. Detroit gave up a player who has already produced five goals and 10 points in 20 games with Pittsburgh, and the pick it received was rerouted almost immediately. That leaves the Red Wings judging the move not by what they planned on deadline day, but by what Soderblom has done since he left.