Blackhawks acquire Shea Weber, Victor Soderstrom and Aku Raty from Utah for fifth-round pick

The Utah Hockey Club stayed fairly quiet on NHL Trade Deadline day, only making one minor deal to clear cap space heading into next season. 

As one of many deals trickling in after the 3:00 pm ET deadline, Utah traded the contract of defenseman Shea Weber, the rights to defenseman Victor Soderstrom, and winger Aku Raty to the Chicago Blackhawks for a fifth-round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. 

They two clubs battle on Friday night, but none of the pieces will be in the lineup.

When they were the Arizona Coyotes, Utah’s organization was once a haven for contracts of players no longer in the league. However, that is no longer the case, as Utah’s new owners, Ryan and Ashley Smith, are ambitious about the future. 

The trade opens up an additional $7.8 million of cap space for Utah ahead of the 2025-26 season. 

Weber’s contract, signed in 2012 for 14 years through 2026, has a cap hit of $7.86 million. However, he has not played an NHL game since the 2020-21 season, when he skated 48 times for the Montreal Canadiens to wrap up his 1,038-game career. 

Since last playing in the NHL, Weber’s contract has been part of the Vegas Golden Knights and Utah organizations, and now lies with the Blackhawks.

Once a highly-touted prospect,  Arizona picked the new 25-year-old Soderstrom 11th overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, but the Swedish blueliner only played 53 NHL games with the club before returning to the Swedish Hockey League in 2024-25. 

Raty, 23, has one NHL game under his belt but has spent 2024-25 with the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL, scoring four goals and 19 points in 50 games. 

Utah sit fifth in the Western Conference Wild Card standings, three points back of the Calgary Flames for the final Stanley Cup Playoff spot, and are still aiming for the post-season, while building towards the future. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks are second last in the NHL, on 46 points through 62 games.