Simon Edvinsson has become a name to watch around the NHL rumor mill, but the noise doesn’t match the reality in Detroit.
A recent post by The Hockey News floated the idea that the Philadelphia Flyers could make a run at the Red Wings defenseman through either a trade or an offer sheet. Writer Jonathan Bailey argued that “The longer the situation with Edvinsson, the Red Wings, and the general manager search drags out, the bigger a distraction it will become with training camp looming," and added that “The Flyers have loads of draft capital, including four first-round picks in the next three drafts (thanks, Toronto), and young players to deal to Detroit in an Edvinsson trade with the Red Wings hurtling closer and closer to having to blow up the operation.”
But that line of thinking doesn’t line up with what’s been reported about Edvinsson’s intentions.
Edvinsson’s camp has already said it plans to sign an extension in Detroit, and there have been no signs that he’s leaning anywhere else. Detroit Hockey Now also reported that Edvinsson wants a long-term deal with the Red Wings. For all the speculation from outside the organization, the expectation remains the same: he wants to stay put.
And there’s plenty for Detroit to like about what it already has in him. Edvinsson put up a career-high nine goals last season and finished with 25 points in 72 games.
That nearly matched his career best of 31 from the previous year. He also spent the season as one half of one of the NHL’s top defensive pairings with Moritz Seider, delivering strong shutdown results even if the box score didn’t always jump off the page.
The offense should keep coming as his career moves forward.
The bigger issue in Detroit is timing. The Red Wings still need a new general manager in place, and the sooner that hire is made, the sooner the club can lock Edvinsson into a long-term deal. Four names have surfaced repeatedly in NHL insider chatter: Florida Panthers assistant GM Brett Peterson, San Jose Sharks assistant GM Jeff Kealty, Detroit Tigers GM Jeff Greenberg and Dallas Stars assistant GM Scott White.
For now, the Red Wings haven’t decided whether the GM job and the president of hockey operations role will be separate positions. If they do split them, they could move forward with one or even both of those candidates. In the long run, keeping the jobs separate would make sense so one person isn’t asked to carry both loads at once in Hockeytown.
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