Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom offers a few quips and quotes from the principals around Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson this morning. This one isn’t exactly a blockbuster article, but I’m posting it for context’s sake. As per usual, this is roughly translated from Swedish:
Simon Edvinsson on his way to a new monster contract
LOS ANGELES. He’s going and waiting for a big pay rise.
But instead of sitting at home in Gothenburg and being depressed, NHL defender Simon Edvinsson, 23, has set off to the United States.
“Yes, I’m in Detroit now,” he told Expressen.
A series of unfortunate circumstances make him remain without a contract with the Red Wings ahead of the season.
And training camp is only a few days away.
The big reason for the missing contract is that the NHL team lacks a general manager.
Team icon Steve Yzerman, who had been working since 2019, was fired in early July.
And without a hockey executive, the club cannot negotiate with Edvinsson’s agents about a new multi-year contract.
Simon played out his three-year rookie deal last spring, and he sits in a golden seat.
For several reasons.
Edvinsson has played a place in Red Wing’s first defensive pair next to the team’s new defensive giant, Moritz Seider.
Simon earned nearly $900,000 in annual salary in the last three seasons, representing about 8.7 million Swedish Krona.
It’s pocket money compared to what he’s going to get over the next few years.
And it’s [coming] in a hurry.
Turned down the job
Red Wings are running its training camp during the middle of next week. Although it is unusual for players without a contract to be involved, Edvinsson has announced that he is willing to do so.
Well aware that his new agreement is at the top of the list of things that need to be fixed quickly when the new hockey boss has been hired.
Red Wings owner Chris Ilitch had hoped to persuade Jeff Greenberg to move over from baseball team Detroit Tigers, which the Ilitch family also owns.
Greenberg has a history with the NHL, but last week declined to run for the job.
Right now, the day-to-day operations are being managed by assistant general manager, and former [NHL] player Shawn Horcoff.
Names mentioned in the rumor carousel to replace Yzerman are three assistant general managers from other NHL teams, such as Brett Peterson (Florida Panthers), Jeff Kealty (San Jose Sharks) and Scott White (Dallas Stars).
On September 15th, there will be an end to 8-year contract extensions in the NHL, in the future it will be a maximum of 7 years.
Expressen has spoken to a number of agents in the NHL, and, without going into detail, they compare Edvinsson’s situation with some other young defensemen who have recently signed new long and fat contracts in the NHL.
Toward a monster contract
One of them is 20-year-old Zeev Buium, of the Vancouver Canucks, who, over the next eight years, will be able to cash out $9.4 million in annual salary. That equates to 91 million Swedish Krona. In total, Buium’s “package” is worth just over $75 million (£727 million).
“Edvinsson should get a little more if he signs for seven or eight years,” an agent said.
Should Simon Edvinsson and Detroit agree on a 6-year contract, Edvinsson could demand more than what Simon Nemec, 22, recently received from the Calgary Flames, and that was $7.250 million in annual salary for five seasons to come.
That equates to about 7.3 million Swedish Krona.
It is, thus, a salary lift of a giant format for Simon Edvinsson.
“I want Simon to stay, but it’s a bit quiet right now. I can’t say much for today,” commented Nicklas Lidström when Expressen asked him the other week.
Lidström has in recent years had the role of Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Red Wings.
Edvinsson’s Swedish agent, Peter Werner, has been cautious when it comes to commenting on the situation.
“We don’t speculate [about] anything, but are patiently waiting for the new general manager,” Werner said.
