The Flyers are back in the market for a difference-maker, and Simon Edvinsson has become one of the names sitting right in the middle of that search.
Philadelphia already swung and missed this summer when the Anaheim Ducks matched the Leo Carlsson offer sheet, and general manager Danny Briere has since gone back to the phones looking for a player who can jump into the top of the lineup. That trail has led straight to Detroit’s 23-year-old defenseman, who is still without a contract almost a month into the season and has made it known he would prefer a move out of the Red Wings organization.
At first, Detroit interim general manager Shawn Horcoff wasn’t interested in hearing trade ideas. That stance is starting to soften as the stalemate drags on. The Red Wings may be inching toward the point where moving the player becomes the cleaner option, especially with the situation clearly turning sour.
On the latest episode of DFO Insider, David Pagnotta said the talks have picked up around Edvinsson, with Philadelphia among the teams heavily involved.
“What I was told yesterday was as much as Shawn Horcoff does not want to trade him, he has been engaged in trade talks that have escalated in the last little bit involving Simon Edvinsson. Philadelphia, Boston, St.
Louis, Seattle, I think Nashville is among them that are in this mix. Toronto poked around but I don’t think that’s going to happen.
I believe Calgary did too, I don’t know if that’s that, but there are others. There are a lot of others but those are the teams that I think have been pretty engaged in this,” Pagnotta said Wednesday.
Edvinsson is back in North America after returning to Sweden when he arrived at Red Wings training camp without a contract as a sign of good will. He is currently training in Boston.
Pagnotta also said he spoke with someone from a team that had checked in on Edvinsson but didn’t believe it had enough to land him, and that person thought this situation would end in a trade. And with each day that passes without a contract, the odds of that outcome only seem to climb.
There is a hard deadline in play, too: Edvinsson must sign by December 1 to be eligible to play in the 2026-27 NHL season. That’s the ultimate cutoff, though letting this stretch all the way to that point would be a wild outcome.
The Flyers’ interest fits. Edvinsson is a 6-foot-6 defenseman with size, skating ability, and the kind of upside that could make him a major piece on the blue line for years. He scored nine goals and 25 points in 72 games last season after posting 31 points the year before, and the appeal is obvious even if the production hasn’t fully matched the ceiling yet.
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported earlier in the week that as many as 10 teams have been involved in trade discussions with Detroit on Edvinsson, naming the San Jose Sharks and Boston Bruins specifically. Based on Pagnotta’s repeated mentions, Philadelphia appears to be part of that group.
The real question is price. LeBrun pointed to four recent trades as possible frameworks: Noah Dobson to Montreal, Mikhail Sergachev to Utah, Bowen Byram to Chicago, and Simon Nemec to Calgary.
Those deals ranged from two conditional first-round picks and a second-rounder in the Nemec trade to Chicago giving up the fourth-overall pick for Byram. Utah sent top-line defender JJ Moser and top prospect Conor Geekie for Sergachev, while Montreal got Dobson for the 16th- and 17th-overall picks plus Emil Heineman.
For the Flyers, a deal would likely start with real NHL value, whether that means Owen Tippett or Cam York, then add premium picks such as the Maple Leafs’ first-round pick next year or their own 2028 first-rounder, along with a prospect like Jack Nesbitt or Jett Luchanko. And even that may just be a baseline, because this is not a simple seller’s market. Detroit doesn’t want to move Edvinsson, and the player himself is pushing to get out.
No wonder the Flyers are still weighing it. Edvinsson has looked his best alongside Moritz Seider, and he has yet to crack 31 points in a season.
Still, a young, towering defenseman with this kind of upside is exactly the sort of gamble teams chase. The only question is how far Philadelphia is willing to go.
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