Red Wings prospect Simon Edvinsson had quite the Thursday in the SHL, and today, the Hockey News’s Ryan Kennedy discusses the progress made by the young defenseman:
The Detroit Red Wings have a young defenseman on their hands who is blowing away expectations this season and I’m not talking about Moritz Seider – though he certainly qualifies for honorifics himself.
No, I’m talking about Simon Edvinsson, the sixth overall pick in the 2021 draft and one of the best stories of the young SHL season over in Sweden. Playing for a first-place Frolunda squad, Edvinsson has nine points through 15 games, tying him for third in all SHL scoring among blueliners. It’s an impressive feat compounded by the fact the 18-year-old is playing in his first full SHL season after splitting last year between the top league, the second-tier Allsvenskan and Sweden’s junior circuit.
While Edvinsson had already been on the draft radar, his loan from Frolunda to Vasteras in the Allsvenskan last year enabled the youngster to get more minutes and a bigger shot at offensive contributions. As Frolunda GM Fredrik Sjostrom told me in the lead-up to the draft, it was a developmental move the team was pleased with.
“We were talking to him on a regular basis and watching all of his games,” Sjostrom said. “You give him feedback here and there but not too much – you want him to have fun and be playing bigger minutes. We kept close tabs and we were really happy with how he was doing.”
After being the weak point for a few years, the D corps is going to be a real strength in the near future.