Simon Edvinsson Received Offer Sheet Interest This Summer

We saw a pair of offer sheets this summer around the NHL with New Jersey’s offer to Utah’s Barrett Hayton and a record-setting offer from Philadelphia to Anaheim’s Leo Carlsson; both were ultimately matched.  While no others were signed, it doesn’t mean that others weren’t pursued.

One of the targets who ultimately didn’t sign one was Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson.  The blueliner acknowledged to Aftonbladet’s Anton Johansson that there was some interest from other teams this summer but declined to go into further details than that.  Meanwhile, there had only been cursory talks prior to Steve Yzerman’s departure as GM with a short-term offer put on the table that went nowhere.

Edvinsson’s situation, of course, is in flux at the moment with the Red Wings without a full-time GM at the moment.  While acting GM Shawn Horcoff has some flexibility to make smaller moves, a contract of this magnitude will be left to the new top executive, whenever they’re hired.

The 23-year-old has quickly become a core piece of Detroit’s back end, chipping in a bit offensively and logging some big minutes.  Last season, Edvinsson had nine goals and 16 assists in 72 games while recording 148 blocks in more than 22 minutes per night of playing time.  He is developing into the top-pairing player the Red Wings hoped he would be when they drafted him sixth overall in 2021.

Edvinsson indicated earlier this week that he will take the rare step of attending training camp without a contract.  Most restricted free agents don’t do so, although in this case, Edvinsson’s situation is somewhat rare himself.  The absence of a contract to this point isn’t due to a holdup in discussions but rather that there isn’t someone on Detroit’s end designated to hold those discussions.  That means it’s not the typical situation where the player is holding out to try to get a better deal.

Even so, it would be surprising to see Edvinsson take part in the preseason.  He’d be capped at two games anyway under the new rule preventing veterans with 100 or more games of NHL experience from suiting up more than twice.  But that would still be risking injury if he did play in his allotted games which could materially affect contract discussions.

In the meantime, with Tuesday’s deadline to sign an eight-year deal looming, it’s looking less and less likely that Edvinsson will be signing one of those, especially with no new GM in place yet.  Whenever Yzerman’s replacement is hired, it’s safe to say that Edvinsson’s case will be priority number one to make sure he’s locked up under contract before their regular season opens up on October 2nd.