Detroit Red Wings: Simon Edvinsson slated for NHL debut vs. Avalanche

The Detroit Red Wings called up defenseman Simon Edvinsson to join the team’s roster under emergency conditions. The team is currently without Ben Chiarot, who has an upper-body injury that he is out week-to-week with. From the sounds of it, Gustav Lindstrom is also not 100% either.

This left the Detroit Red Wings in a spot where they needed to bring up a defenseman to help fill out the defense core, and Edvinsson was just the guy for the job. The Red Wings felt it was time to bring him up and give him a chance with the NHL club to see what he’s got.

I’ll be the first to admit that I felt keeping Edvinsson in the AHL was smart to let him keep focusing on his development. In reality, that was not the case after the call-up was made official by the team on Friday morning.

Even under emergency conditions, a call-up is a call-up. The Red Wings are expected to have Edvinsson in the lineup on Saturday, and he is slated to make his NHL debut against the Avalanche as the Red Wings look to bounce back after a loss earlier this week to the Predators.

Detroit Red Wings call up Simon Edvinsson.

The 6-foot-6, 216-pound defender was the sixth overall pick from the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He’s expected to bring a big piece of the puzzle to the table for the Red Wings regarding the team’s defense core.

The big-bodied defenseman is an agile skater for his size with offensive abilities that excite for a defenseman. There’s reason to believe he will be a solid option for the team’s blueline for years to come. The question is when he will become a mainstay.

Hence, the reason I felt he should stay in Grand Rapids. Letting Edvinsson get that full year to develop his craft might have been best, similar to what the Red Wings did with Jonatan Berggren last season, and he took off in 2022-23 with the NHL club.

But, Edvinsson will make his debut after 51 games played in the AHL with the Griffins. Edvinsson has five goals and 22 assists for 27 total points in the 2022-23 season and is looking to get his feet wet with the NHL and see how he handles the jump in caliber of play.

With the late-season injuries proving to be a problem for the Red Wings, Edvinsson gets his chances on his emergency loan. It will be interesting to see how this plays out with the Swedish defender moving forward, seeing if he stays up with the NHL club for a short stint or not.

After all, the Red Wings have just 14 games left in the season, so we could see the Red Wings keep him up for the last ten games or so; time will tell.