Possible first openly autistic National Hockey League player

Post Reply New Topic

Söderström, 20, was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome and ADHD when he was just a child. Despite his limitations, he has blossomed into one of the world’s most promising netminders. “Hockey,” he says, “has always been there for me.”

So how has Söderström, who’s on the brink of becoming the first autistic player in NHL history, done it? Wertheim cited Söderström’s ‘unmatched work ethic’ and ‘astonishing attention to detail’ as possible reasons. To emphasize this point, Nizze Landén, the junior national team goalie coach, recounts a video session in which Söderström told him that he missed a shot.

“I’ve been doing this for 20 years,” the coach replied. “No, I didn’t.”

“At 2:03 in the second period,” Söderström said. Sure enough, he was correct.

These attributes have helped Söderström garner a bevy of accolades. “There are a lot of people who are in my situation, so to be honest, it was not about me,” he says. “It was all about trying to become a role model for some kids and sending a message: Life can be tough for you right now, but just keep working and make sure [in] the thing you do—your hobby, or your job, or whatever it is—you have a lot of fun, and never let anyone step on you.”

Have to believe there has been a number of undiagnosed professional athletes altho supposedly we're uncoordinated.

Linus Soderstrom will be playing his 2018-19 season with the Islanders organization, likely starting with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. This is good news for the Islanders, whose goalie prospects all have spent time in Europe. It’s hard to get a read on what those numbers translate to in the NHL, but Soderstrom will be the first goalie prospect that the organization and fans will get to see up close.

Linus Soderstrom has put up decent if unremarkable numbers in the Sweden, between the SHL, Allsvenskan, and with U20 and U18 teams. His breakout season was 2016-17 though, where he put up a .943 save percentage in 22 regular season games with HV71 in the SHL, and a .922 in 16 playoff games, leading his team to a championship. However, after returning from surgery in March 2018 to finish out the SHL season, his numbers took a significant dive, with a .894 in 14 games.

Soderstrom also has been open about his Aspergers’ and ADHD, and he’s used those experiences to grow as a player and person. Hopefully we’ll see him bounce back to his pre-injury numbers with Bridgeport. Given the Isles’ shaky goaltending situation with Thomas Greiss and Robin Lehner, we may even see him get an opportunity with the big club.

Linus Soderstrom is committed to playing in North America this season, but he doesn't know if it will be in the AHL with Bridgeport or the ECHL with Worcester. But the main thing for the Islanders’ goalie prospect from Sweden is just to play.

“My only plan is to be healthy,” said Soderstrom, a fourth-round pick in 2014 who missed all of last season and a significant portion of 2017-18 with HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League because of lower-body injuries.

Soderstrom was again on the ice on Wednesday for the second day of sessions at the Islanders’ summer prospect development camp at the Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow. A bigger test will be if Soderstrom is able to play in Thursday night’s open-to-the-public scrimmage.

“It’s been a long and a tough year,” Soderstrom said. “I’ve been home all year rehabbing, just trying to get into a better state with my body because I’ve had a lot of surgeries. It’s always tough to be at home when you have a contract here. I want to be here. I want to play here.”

But after going 18-4-6 with a 2.11 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage for HV71 that season, he played just 14 games the next season before being sidelined with a lower-body injury.

He then suffered a separate lower-body injury last season while trying to recover.

Soderstrom began skating without equipment in December and started skating with his full goalie equipment in February.

It’s been tough, an up-and-down roller coaster all the time,” the 22-year-old Soderstrom said. “There’s been some very good weeks and then there have been some very bad setbacks. You can’t take anything for granted.”

Russian Ilya Sorokin, 23, is the organization’s top goalie prospect but will play at least one more season in the KHL. He led CSKA Moscow to the Gagarin Cup in April with a four-game sweep over Avangard Omsk in the final and was named the playoff MVP.

That seemingly would give Soderstrom, if healthy, a window to come to North America and impress the Islanders’ brass.

But Soderstrom does not want to get ahead of himself.

“Something I’ve learned from this year at home is to have perspective on things and not take anything for granted and be humble,” Soderstrom said. “I want to play in the best league in the world and I want to be a difference maker. But I think I have to be a little bit more calm and just focus on getting this to work on the ice consistently, not just a few times every week. It’s got to work every day, every year.”