Victor Soderstrom, the Coyotes’ No. 11 overall pick in June, has received a helping hand this summer from fellow Swedish defenseman and Coyotes captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Soderstrom, who participated in the first rookie camp skate on Thursday at Gila River Arena, explained that Ekman-Larsson extended an invitation for the 18-year-old to come live in his Paradise Valley home this summer and throughout training camp.

The Coyotes’ contingent in rookie camp, which will practice again on Friday before flying to Anaheim for a tournament with other NHL prospects, also includes Barrett Hayton, Nick Merkley, Kyle Capobianco, Ivan Prosvetov and Kevin Bahl.

Reached by phone on Thursday, Ekman-Larsson said he remembered the uneasy feeling of coming from Sweden to Arizona as an 18-year-old and how much he appreciated the hospitality of captain Shane Doan.

It’s a gesture that Ekman-Larsson has carried into his own captaincy.

“I’m excited to have him here,” Ekman-Larsson said of Soderstrom. “I can just go back to the first time I got over here when Shane reached out to me and took care of me. That’s something that I want to do with the young kids as well as the rest of the organization.

"It’s nice to help out, talk to them and make sure they have everything they need to be successful on the ice.”

Soderstrom went back home to Sweden after the whirlwind that was the draft and Coyotes’ prospect development camp in June. And while he said it was refreshing to take some time off, he couldn’t be more ready to begin his career in the Coyotes organization.

“I was spending time away from my close friends and family for like four weeks,” Soderstrom said on Thursday. “It was nice to get back and talk about things I got to experience. Thinking back, it was pretty sick, actually.”

Ekman-Larsson said he’s been showing Soderstrom around the Valley and that the two have also been skating and training together since Soderstrom returned to Arizona in late August. The second-year captain also shared a post-workout photo on Instagram featuring he and Soderstrom.

“I’m obviously trying to tell him what I experienced my first time over here,” Ekman-Larsson said. “He’s a smart kid and it’s been to spend so much time with him. I think you can still learn from the young guys, too, and they even help you feel young again.

"He’s a really good kid and he reminds me of myself a little bit. He had so many questions and I was trying to answer them all.”

Soderstrom, who said he has also learned much from veteran Coyotes defenseman and countryman Niklas Hjalmarsson, is one of a select few players in camp with a chance at cracking the NHL roster. No Coyotes draft pick has gone straight to the NHL since Jakob Chychrun did so after being selected 16th overall in 2016.

Cracking the opening night roster is Soderstrom’s sole focus as camp gets underway.

“I’m enjoying this and excited to go to Anaheim and play my first games,” Soderstrom said. “I want to get back here with confidence for training camp. My main goal is to make the Coyotes and we’ll see what happens.”

What happens after camp, should Soderstrom not make the NHL roster, is a very interesting topic. Because he is a European player, he is not beholden to the CHL-NHL agreement that prohibits drafted players under 20 years old from playing in the American Hockey League (AHL).

That being said, Soderstrom could play for the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate in Tucson or go back home to play for Brynas IF, which plays in the highest professional league in Sweden.

“I’m trying not to think about anything like that right now,” Soderstrom said. “I can’t think about that too much because I don’t know how it’s going to go. I’m just trying to make the team right now and that’s it. If I don’t make it, we’ll go from there.

“Either it’s Brynas or Tucson … We’ve talked about that and I can kind of choose where I want to play, but I want to do what’s best for my development.”

Richard Morin covers the Coyotes and Diamondbacks for azcentral sports. He can be reached atrmorin@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter@ramorin_azc.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.