Since Red Wings defenseman and restricted free agent Simon Edvinsson’s agent, Peter Werner, told Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom that, “We are patiently awaiting for a new general manager” for his client to re-sign with Detroit, there’s been chatter that Edvinsson might be offer-sheeted (despite the fact that the Red Wings have $19.57 million in cap space) or traded.
Today, the Hockey News’s Jonathan Bailey suggests that the Philadelphia Flyers could swoop in and take the 23-year-old Edvinsson off Detroit’s hands, be it via trade or via an offer sheet:
The longer the situation with Edvinsson, the Red Wings, and the general manager search drags out, the bigger a distraction it will become with training camp looming.
And that’s not necessarily something Detroit needs with the Dylan Larkin saga ongoing at the same time.
The Flyers have loads of draft capital, including four first-round picks in the next three drafts (thanks, Toronto), and young players to deal to Detroit in an Edvinsson trade with the Red Wings hurtling closer and closer to having to blow up the operation.
With the majority of their core players locked down, the Flyers can pay Edvinsson whatever they need to in order to sign him, which could reasonably exceed $9 million on the current market.
It’s a situation worth monitoring closely, as the Flyers want to get bigger, meaner, and more talented on defense, and Edvinsson checks all three boxes.
Continued; I’m calling, “That’s a nice idea, but that’s not how any of this works” BS here. Even if the Red Wings “blow it up,” they’re not going to be trading a building block like Simon Edvinsson.
Sure, he’s going to cost a pretty penny to extend, regardless of whether it’s on an 8-year contract (under the current CBA rules) or a 6-year deal (after September 15th), but the Red Wings have more than enough cap space to fend off an offer sheet, and they’re far more likely to choose to make #77 a foundational piece as he acquitted himself well alongside Moritz Seider this past season (all while battling knee issues).
Moreover, with the value of 1st round draft picks declining, the Wings sure as hell aren’t going to trade a 23-year-old who stands at 6’6″ and 223 pounds but skates like a gazelle, especially just as he’s coming into his prime years.
Trading Edvinsson would be a foolhardy decision at best, and whoever the next Red Wings GM or president of hockey operations might be a lot of things, but they won’t be a fool.
