The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood wonders “what a successful rookie season would look like” for one Simon Edvinsson, and the answer is pretty simple:
It’s a 2024-2025 season in which Edvinsson (who has 25 games under his belt already) allows his smooth skating and tremendous offensive skills to mesh with some real defensive responsibility as he plays his first full season in the NHL. Edvinsson is doubtlessly an offensive maestro in-the-making, but he’s got to get tougher on defense to earn the trust of his coaches and teammates:
Success in 2024-25 should mean that Edvinsson is an impact player, not just another guy in the lineup. If he stays on his current trajectory, he will be. His teammates have big expectations.
“I was very impressed,” Seider said April 18 in his exit interview. “I wasn’t really surprised, to be honest. I think everyone kind of knew what he was gonna bring to our team. I mean, he’s a big strong skater. He can pass the puck really well, isn’t afraid of blocking shots, of throwing his body around and also has a little dynamic element for his offense, and that’s definitely something that helped us.”
That dynamic offense is an interesting note, because Edvinsson’s footprint was rather small on the box score. He finished with one goal and one assist across 16 games. Respectable, but not truly impressive. Away from the realm of statistical recognition, he made some good decisions at the blue line. He laid pucks in for his forwards to work with. He found open teammates and cycled the puck. Most of all, he really didn’t turn the puck over. Poise has always been a premier trait in Edvinsson’s game, but he really put it into practice at the end of the season, not to mention that all this happened amid a near-miss playoff push.
That offense is one element that the boundaries of success for Edvinsson should hinge on. A shutdown defenseman should be the foundation for him, but his direct offensive output should steer how much of a success next season is for him. Given that Edvinson is probably going to be a second-pairing player without much power play time as far as current roster projections go, it’s probably unreasonable to judge him by the 40- or 50-point range that Seider has routinely reached. But, if Edvinsson falls somewhere in the 30s, that would be an outstanding result that Detroit should be thankful to see.
Continued; I don’t know whether Edvinsson is ever going to be a shut-down defender, nor am I going to judge him based upon his point totals.
He’s not necessarily a Calder Trophy-eligible rookie any more, but he’s still essentially a rookie NHL’er, so I want to see him focus on getting better defensively, and cashing in on his offensive chances when he glides up the ice and dekes and dangles opponents out of their skates.
Edvinsson has a ton of “upside” as one of the Red Wings’ very best prospects, but a Seider-like first full NHL season is an exception to the learning curve rule for most of even top prospects in today’s NHL.
