I thought that Red Wings prospect Simon Edvinsson’s performance during Thursday night’s overtime loss to Toronto was emblematic of his preseason play.
Edvinsson played 20:27, finishing at +1 with 1 shot on goal, 5 shot attempts, a hit, a takeaway…And a very bad penalty for high-sticking Tyler Bertuzzi, at 14:25 of the 3rd period, to his name.
Edvinsson’s been fantastic at some points, and a bit sloppy and careless at others. He’s finally playing sound defense to complement his excellent offensive gifts, and he seems to be putting his game together on a much more consistent basis, but those bad penalties and occasional mistakes made because he’s borderline arrogant with the puck (which is a good thing, if you can get away with it!) have haunted him.
This morning, The Athletic’s Max Bultman ponders whether the 6’6″ defenseman has pushed far enough to make the Red Wings’ roster:
“Last (preseason), he literally had really highs and lows in his game,” Lalonde said Wednesday, before Detroit’s sixth preseason game. “I think he’s been a lot more consistent with his games.”
Good enough to potentially make the NHL roster, even with a veteran blue line that runs seven deep ahead of him?
“I think it’s something we would evaluate,” Lalonde said. “He’s the type of prospect in his development, if he’s not going to be up with us and playing significant minutes … it’s probably more beneficial for him to eat really big minutes (in the AHL). But that’s why we have three games left.”
In that time between those comments and this article, the Red Wings have played two preseason games. In one of them, Edvinsson scored the game-winning goal. In the next, he continued to be noticeable in big minutes against a Maple Leafs lineup composed almost entirely of NHL regulars.
And that means the Red Wings might just have a tough decision on their hands with their top prospect.
Continued (paywall); I’m going to very, very respectfully disagree with Max here. To me, Edvinsson has been very, very good to say the least, but between the addition of Jeff Petry (which Bultman discusses) and the fact that the Red Wings have Olli Maatta, Justin Holl, Shayne Gostisbehere and Ben Chiarot all battling for three spots on the Wings’ blueline…
I don’t see room for Edvinsson. Yet. I do think that he’s going to Grand Rapids to play big minutes in the AHL, I do think that he’s going to do well, and I also think that he’s going to be on the Red Wings’ roster on a full-time basis by the end of the 2023-2024 season.
