Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson may be training with Frolunda HC back in Gothenburg, Sweden while his contract impasse with the Red Wings continues, but the Wings’ beat writers report that his teammates have taken no offense to Edvinsson’s course of action.

Moritz Seider, Andrew Copp and Lucas Raymond discussed the issue with the Free Press’s Helene St. James…

“We just know that he wants to be here,” teammate Moritz Seider said after practice. “We want him here, and that’s the bottom line. Everyone has to fight for their own contracts, and we all have his back and we support him. And we’re just looking forward to when he eventually signs, hopefully sooner rather than late because he’s a big part of our team, a big part of this organization and, moving forward, he will be a big piece to our success.”

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The Wings open the 2026-27 season on Friday, Oct. 2, when they host the New York Rangers. Edvinsson could make the opener if he’s signed in the next 24 hours, though it would require an early morning flight from Sweden connecting through a major international airport like Amsterdam Schipol airport or Paris Charles De Gaulle.

“The situation is an important one, but we have so much to worry about in here,” Andrew Copp said. “I can’t really worry about if Simon is going to be here Friday or not. That’s not my job. We want Simon here. He’s a fantastic player, he’s going to be a huge player for us for a long time, but none of us can control whether he’s going to be here Friday or not.”

Two years ago, under former general manager Steve Yzerman, then-RFAs Seider and Lucas Raymond did not sign new deals until right around the start of camp.

“I think as a teammate, you’re making sure that he’s in a good mindset,” Raymond said. “You kind of let all the business side to the front office. That’s all we can do. Simon’s a great player. He’s a great guy. He’s a big part of our team and we want him here. But at the same time, that’s not really in our control. We’re focused on Friday.”

Marco Kasper continued while speaking with the Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker…

I mean, we’re missing him, that’s for sure,” said Marco Kasper. “We’d love for him to be here, but you have to let him take care of that side of the game. It’s business sometimes as well, and I want the best for him, but we want him back as soon as possible. Of course, we’re hoping he’ll be on a plane back to Detroit soon.”

And coach Todd McLellan was blunt regarding the situation as a whole…

“It’s business,” he said. “The players that are here in the locker room, the coaching staff that is here- we have jobs to do. The business between Simon and the hockey club- we have nothing to do with it. We can’t change it, we can’t affect it, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

“It’s pretty simple – we get out, we have a good practice like we did today, and we get ready for the game,” he continued. “If you’re in a Red Wings jersey, then you’re playing. That’s the only way we can deal with it.” 

As McLellan also told MLive’s Ansar Khan:

The 6-6 Edvinsson leaves a huge void on the top defense pairing with Moritz Seider. Albert Johansson was paired with Seider Wednesday in practice.

“We’re going to a starting point without Simon here and Albert’s worked his way up from the third pair and then we tried him on the second pair in exhibition season,” McLellan said. “Now he may find himself up there with Mo playing significant minutes. But that can change real quickly in a game. We’ve got to get a feel for who’s playing well and just see how it shakes out.”