What to expect from The Detroit Red Wings "Giant Swede" Simon Edvinsson

"The Giant Swede", "The Towering Swede", no matter what you call him, Simon Edvinsson is Swedish and gigantic. However, you may be shocked that he is also the Red Wings second best defenseman.

Drafted at the proverbial sixth overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Edvinsson quickly proved to have been the correct choice for the Red Wings. Granted, this was only three years into Steve Yzerman's tenure as General Manager so the bar for good prospects was pretty low. Sure, he had already Drafted Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, neither of them had made the jump to the NHL yet but had shown great promise. We had just gone through 4 years of absolutely dreadful drafting by former general manager Ken Holland. Needless to say, most fans were still on edge with Red Wings draft picks.

Thankfully, Yzerman has proven to be a far better drafter than Holland, and Edvinsson is no exception. While he still has a lot to prove at the NHL level, he has shown that he has all the talent, size, and hockey IQ to become. not just a regular NHLer, but a top-tier NHLer.

Here's an overview of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson reached this point and expectations for the upcoming season

When Edvinsson was drafted he was billed as a:

"Detailed defender with high-level in-zone instincts, a tight neutral zone gap, well-timed physicality, and supporting instincts to match."

Elite Prospects 2021 Draft Guide

He proved this to be a true assessment very quickly, being nearly half a point per game with Frölunda HC in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) with a +13 and two points in five playoff games.

This was impressive enough for the Red Wings to have him come to North America and play with the Grand Rapids Griffins. That season he recorded five goals and 22 assists for a total of 27 points in 52 games and a 9-game stint with the Red Wings that saw him record two goals. Many people thought this was a sign that the Red Wings front office believed that Edvinsson was ready for the jump to the NHL full-time for the 2023-24 season. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case as he would spend most of the season in Grand Rapids as the Red Wings suffered heavily from a logjam at every position last season.

This proved to be the correct move, as Edvinsson would spend his entire time in Grand Rapids as the team's number-one defenseman recording eight goals and 22 assists for 30 points in 54 AHL games, he would also record his first-ever pro fight while playing against the Belleville Senators. He would also have two assists in six AHL playoff games and would once again be called up to the Red Wings for a much longer 16-game stint that would see him record one goal and one assist.

The odds of Edvinsson being on the Red Wings to start the 2024-25 season is somewhere within the scale of "they would be crazy not to" and "100% he's making the team." He proved in his stints with the club the last two seasons that he was more than worth the spot and is also likely the Red Wings second-best Defenseman behind Seider.

It is worth noting, however, that he will likely still play fairly sheltered minutes on the blueline. I'm not saying that they'll be easy minutes mind you, he'll likely end up getting some fairly difficult minutes. I'm just saying that he likely won't be the first player that the coaching staff will throw out against the Connor McDavids and Nathan MacKinnons of the NHL. That will likely end up on Seider's shoulders. Even still, he may get paired with Seider under specific circumstances such as six-on-five situations at the end of games to protect a lead or potentially on a penalty kill if specific players get thrown in the sin bin.

I wouldn't expect an incredible amount of offense from him either as all signs point to him being paired with Jeff Petry, who will likely be used as the more offensive defenseman on that pair. That doesn't mean that Edvinsson won't be able to commit to his offense. It's well known that he is really good on the rush, his size alone allows him to protect the puck well and his silky smooth hands allow him to lead the rush and get around defenders in a way that shouldn't be possible for a player his size.

While it may not reflect on the score sheet, you can fully expect Edvinsson to play a hard-hitting and smart game every night.