Detroit Red Wings reuniting the bromance on ice, Simon Edvinsson & Albert Johansson

The Grand Rapids Griffins are often a footnote in Detroit Red Wings fans’ journeys. A team that is dedicated to developing most of the Detroit Red Wings prospects. Often times, the success these young players see at the American Hockey League (AHL) level is undersold as being good, but we need to temper expectations. 

Yet, the Grand Rapids Griffins are pushing the envelope and we don’t have to look far to see the team’s impact on the Detroit Red Wings.

A few moons ago, I wrote about the bromance on ice that was Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson. For a majority of the season, it seemed that Edvinsson and Johansson were the number one pairing for Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Dan Watson. It was easy to see why. 

Now, the duo has joined forces again thanks to the current head coach of the Detroit Red Wings Todd McLellan. He mentioned the pairings helped with cohesiveness and familiarity. Rather than disrupting other pairings due to the Petry injury, plugging Johansson on the second pair with Edvinsson just made sense for all parties involved. 

Since teaming up together, Detroit Red Wings defensemen Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson have grown in their role on the second pair

Both players complement each other well. Edvinsson is a bit more intuitive, likes to push play, and is a bit off in his own world at times. Meanwhile, Johansson is steady, consistent, and relatively patient when it comes to playing on a defensive pairing with Edvinsson. 

It takes them a bit of time to readjust to playing together, or at least it did with the Grand Rapids Griffins. In a league facing higher levels of competition as the Detroit Red Wings defacto number two pairing, they’re embracing the challenges. Although Edvinsson sees a bit more ice time, Johansson is being trusted with decent minutes fluctuating between 13 to 16 minutes per night. It’s not a bad gig considering he wasn’t playing before the Petry injury. With the previous coaching regime, he wouldn’t see much ice, and the actual games he played in were scattered. Maybe there was a rhyme and reason behind the scenes, but it was one that I couldn’t understand. Did he earn consistent starts? It’s debatable, but I would much rather have seen him get consistent minutes over guys like Erik Gustafsson (who has really done a 180 since the coaching change) or Justin Holl. No offense to these two players, but I wanted to see what a Johansson with consistent playing time over five to 10 starts would do.

I hear the superior stat Detroit Red Wings fans seething at the keyboard, ready to clickity-clack away about how Edvinsson and Johansson have looked terrible. They’ll shoot off a few (or a lot) of stats as to why this is the case and say I’m wearing rose-colored glasses while assessing my favorite player.

That’s fine and dandy. 

Instead of putting faith in numbers, I’ll keep my confidence in Edvinsson and Johansson. Regardless of whom they are playing with or where they are playing in the lineup, they have shown enough to me that they are good enough for full-time gigs in the National Hockey League (NHL). Both are going to have fluctuating performances, as with every living creature in the universe, and I reckon they may not be a pairing indefinitely, but it’s a blast to watch in the meantime.

I will say that Edvinsson and Johansson played very well against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night:

As I figured, it has taken about three or four games for Johansson to really get comfortable and confident playing in the NHL. Having a partner like Edvinsson, who he’s played with previously and knows as well as anyone, has seemed to only help his game improve. 

Johansson is making plays all over the ice while mistakes are minimized. When mistakes do arise, Johansson works his tail off to make up for it. Sometimes, he can push a little too much like last night when he took a penalty as he tried to compensate for an oopsie. In all fairness, the game prior, Michael Rasmussen was sent to the box for holding a stick, which seemed to be what the San Jose Sharks player did to Johansson, so I guess it depends on the referee and any bias.

I’m not sure what Johansson’s ceiling is, but I’m ready to find out. We shouldn’t be putting labels on him just yet as he’s still getting comfortable playing in a regular role for the Detroit Red Wings. All I know, he’s won a Swedish Hockey League (SHL) championship and that’s more than most Swedish-trained players on the Detroit Red Wings can say.

Edvinsson, on the other hand, is the same wild, untamed Edvinsson. Coaches and teammates can sort of funnel Edvinsson’s play, but Edvinsson will still play intuitively. Placing him in a box or telling him not to do something doesn’t seem to be the answer, so letting him do his thing so long as it’s not negatively impacting the team is helpful to everyone involved. On a couple of occasions, McLellan has mentioned Edvinsson in passing when discussing defensemen leading the offensive charge. 

McLellan isn’t the biggest fan of defensemen leading the charge, but Edvinsson hasn’t seemed to lack confidence or minimized his play, which is nice to see. Coaches and players will always see and have different preferences in how games should be played. To see them have differing opinions but not make the other feel upset one way or the other is refreshing. Edvinsson still looks confident enough that he’s okay to push the envelope, even if it means making a mistake. Especially now, as he’s growing into his game at the NHL level, it’s critical that Edvinsson learns how far he can push things without getting too far (out of play, position, etc.). 

He’s a highly skilled player who needs to learn his limits. These plays will drive coaches and teammates nuts as he learns how much he can push, so having a group that supports his development is key to Edvinsson reaching his full potential (or as close to it as possible). He can be a steady, two-way defenseman who has pops of offense every so often, but his ceiling is so much higher than that. 

Regardless of how long these two play together, it’s been a privilege to watch them grow and play in the NHL. As a fan of both the Detroit Red Wings and Grand Rapids Griffins, these moments are few and far between. While I can, I’m thrilled to watch them play together. Leading the team in performance (even if it’s one night) is the icing on the cake.