The Detroit Red Wings will once again be without one of their key blue-liners as Simon Edvinsson is set to miss his second straight game due to a lower-body injury. The 21-year-old defenseman, who’s been a steady presence on Detroit’s top pairing alongside Moritz Seider, did not take part in the morning skate ahead of Saturday night’s matchup against the Winnipeg Jets and has officially been ruled out.
Head coach Todd McLellan provided the update earlier in the day, confirming that Edvinsson will remain sidelined and that the team will re-evaluate him once they return home.
“I can update you for today - he’s obviously not going to play,” McLellan said. “We’ll have him looked at when we get back to Detroit this week and try to determine what path he’s taking.”
Edvinsson was first held out of the lineup during Detroit’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. At the time, McLellan expressed some optimism that the young Swede might be ready for Saturday’s tilt in Winnipeg. But with Edvinsson still not skating, the team is opting for caution - a sensible move considering how valuable he’s been on the back end.
Coming off a strong rookie season, Edvinsson has continued to develop into a reliable two-way defenseman in his sophomore campaign. Through 48 games this year, he’s tallied six goals and 11 assists while posting a plus-six rating.
Perhaps even more telling is his workload - he’s averaging 22:34 of ice time per night, second only to Seider. That kind of usage speaks volumes about how much trust McLellan and the coaching staff have in him.
After Detroit’s win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday, McLellan noted that Edvinsson was “questionable” and that the extra rest might give him a better chance to recover. “He was questionable leaving Toronto last night,” McLellan said. “We thought we might be able to get him through another game, but having today off and tomorrow off will certainly help him.”
For now, the Wings will have to make do without one of their most dependable defensemen as they try to keep pace in a tight playoff race. With Edvinsson out, Detroit will likely shuffle its defensive pairings again, leaning more heavily on Seider and veterans like Ben Chiarot to absorb the extra minutes.
While the injury doesn’t appear to be long-term at this stage, any time missed by Edvinsson is significant. He’s not just logging big minutes - he’s doing so effectively, playing a mature, composed game that belies his age. Detroit will be hoping the time off does indeed help and that he can return to the lineup sooner rather than later.