Simon Edvinsson is the only restricted free agent still waiting on a contract, and the situation in Detroit has reached a delicate stage.
Alexander Nikishin signed a one-year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday, leaving the Red Wings defenseman as the lone unsigned RFA in the NHL. Edvinsson remains in negotiations with Detroit, but the two sides have not found common ground yet.
The sticking point appears to be money. Some around the league have pegged Edvinsson’s camp as aiming for a deal worth around $11 million per season on a seven-year term. Detroit, meanwhile, sounds willing to discuss different lengths, but it wants the salary number kept as close to Moritz Seider’s $8.55 million per year deal as possible.
That gap has become harder to bridge because the cap landscape has changed since Seider signed. The longer this drags on, the more uncomfortable it gets for both sides. Edvinsson has already said he would prefer to be traded, while interim general manager Shawn Horcoff is trying to avoid that outcome for as long as he can.
The clock is the other problem. If Edvinsson is still unsigned by December 1, he will not be eligible to play in the NHL this season.
Neither side wants that result, and the warning signs are clear enough that November could become a decisive month. If the stalemate continues, Edvinsson could choose to request a trade formally or sign an offer sheet to force his way to another club.
Horcoff and Edvinsson met early last week to talk through the situation, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. There hasn’t been a meaningful shift yet, but if this stretches deeper into November, the pace of negotiations is expected to pick up.
Nikishin’s short-term deal does at least give Detroit a possible path forward. A one-year contract, or another bridge arrangement, would buy time for Edvinsson to prove his value while giving the Red Wings a chance to keep evaluating his development. But getting him to accept that kind of structure now appears unlikely.
Still, this is not yet a point of no return. Edvinsson has said he’d rather be traded, but he has not formally asked out, which leaves the door open for a deal to get done. Horcoff has a little more than a month to make that happen before the December 1 deadline turns this into a much bigger problem.
In Other News...
Red Wings Face One Huge Horcoff Question At A Crossroads
Shawn Horcoff is in a tough spot as the Red Wings interim general manager, because every meaningful decision he makes carries the shadow of not knowing how long he will be in charge. Detroit is at a crossroads, with one path leaning toward a push to help the current core right away and another pointing toward a longer rebuild that would prioritize future value over immediate results.
The tension is especially clear in how the team might navigate trade talks around Dylan Larkin and Simon Edvinsson, two players who could define which direction this front office wants to take. The conversations being floated are still speculative, but they underline the same problem Horcoff faces throughout this stretch: Detroit has to decide whether it wants quick help for the present or a broader return that keeps the door open for the next era. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Contract Pressure Just Got Harder To Ignore
Alexander Nikishin finally ended his summer holdout by signing a one-year, $3 million deal with Carolina, a short-term agreement that gives the Hurricanes flexibility and gives the player a chance to get back on the ice and prove himself. With no trade protection attached, the contract immediately stirred speculation that it could become a bridge to something bigger if Nikishin shows enough value once he is back in the lineup.
For the Red Wings, it is another reminder of how quickly these situations can linger and harden into real pressure points. Detroit is still navigating unresolved business with Dylan Larkin and Simon Edvinsson, and the longer those questions hang around, the more every comparable deal around the league starts to matter. Nikishin's case does not answer what comes next in Detroit, but it sharpens the sense that the clock is ticking. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Trade Chatter Just Put Their Goalie Plan In Focus
The goalie market can be a noisy place in late summer, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonens situation in Buffalo is a reminder that not every rumor turns into movement. According to the latest chatter, Sabres management has already tried to calm the situation around Luukkonen by making clear he still fits into the clubs future, even as other teams continue to kick the tires on different pieces around the league.
For Detroit, the bigger takeaway is how the market is shaping the kind of conversations the Red Wings are having. The club has continued to get calls on its own players, but the asks coming back point to a clear priority: young centers, whether they are already in the NHL or still outside it. At the same time, the Red Wings stance on Dylan Larkin and Simon Edvinsson has stayed put, which suggests any real action here will hinge less on familiar names and more on what kind of center help is actually out there. [Read more 🡒]