Seven trade destinations to watch for Red Wings’ Simon Edvinsson
Maybe the Detroit Red Wings have already struck the iceberg and need to accept the inevitable plunge to the depths of the NHL ocean.
After 10 consecutive playoff misses and a decade including 12 first-round picks, any franchise would have a difficult time embracing a “re-rebuild.” But the Wings might not have a choice. Their ex-captain and top center, Dylan Larkin, still awaits a trade as he dutifully suits up for games. Restricted free agent defenseman Simon Edvinsson remains without a contract and has soured on his future with the team given he couldn’t even negotiate a deal while the Wings went all summer without a GM to replace Steve Yzerman. While Edvinsson hasn’t formally requested a trade, he has reportedly indicated he would prefer one to re-signing at this point.
It would be quite a shame for Detroit to deal Edvinsson, whom they drafted sixth overall in 2021, just as he’s maturing into his prime years. Big defensemen often take time to mature, a la Chris Pronger, Zdeno Chara and Victor Hedman, and Edvinsson, 23, had taken major steps forward in the previous two seasons. At a hulking 6-foot-6 and 222 pounds, he uses his massive wingspan effectively and displays 71st percentile top speed, impressive for his size. Even on a porous Detroit team last year, he graded out as an 87th-percentile defensive play driver. He also chipped in nine goals, teasing some offensive upside.
By all measures, Edvinsson is morphing into the top-four horse he was always supposed to be. Losing him right as he nears what should be his best years would be a bummer. But if he’s dead-set on leaving, the good news is Detroit will have no shortage of suitors.
According to reports from NHL insiders such as Frank Seravalli and Pierre LeBrun last week, the lineup to acquire Edvinsson is already at least 10 teams long. The question is: what type of package will convince interim Red Wings GM Shawn Horcoff to trade his second-best defenseman behind Moritz Seider? Will Detroit insist on receiving veteran NHL talent in hopes of competing in the present, or will Horcoff relent on the re-rebuild and consider trading for returns heavy on picks and prospects?
Here are seven destinations to consider should the Wings trade Edvinsson.
Boston Bruins
Why he makes sense: The Bruins aren’t as Big and Bad as their reputation suggests. They struggled to defend in their own end last season, with an expected goal differential that placed them among the league’s draft lottery contenders, and only goaltender Jeremy Swayman’s outstanding play kept the Bruins’ goals against at a manageable number. So far this season, the Bruins have been a bit better defensively, even with Charlie McAvoy serving a six-game suspension, but they still badly need another minute-munching stud to complement McAvoy.
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Fly in the ointment: Do the Bruins have a young player in the right age range whom they’d be willing to trade for Edvinsson? Ideally they wouldn’t want to touch emerging forwards Fraser Minten and James Hagens, meaning GM Don Sweeney would more likely have to dip into his prospect pool. That could mean offering up someone like Dean Letourneau or Will Zellers, almost certainly packaged with defenseman Mason Lohrei, who has underachieved but has the kind of upside Detroit would presumably like to get back in a trade. But whether the Bruins can offer up an enticing enough package will largely depend on whether Horcoff is OK with his team going backward to go forward. If the Wings don’t want to get worse in the present, it would make sense to demand a Minten or Hagens, which could be a deal breaker for Sweeney.
New York Islanders
Why he makes sense: Even the day the Islanders traded Noah Dobson and drafted Matthew Schaefer, GM Mathieu Darche was reluctant to use the term rebuild. He was hoping his team could still compete in the present, and his trade for Brayden Schenn last March doubled down on that sentiment. The Islanders, then, won’t want to leave the hole of Alexander Romanov’s season-ending torn ACL unfilled. Edvinsson would not only be an upgrade of a replacement but would be capable of absorbing some difficult assignments, taking pressure off Schaefer and adding another shutdown option to complement Adam Pelech. The Isles are also one of the better-positioned teams in terms of assets to dangle for Edvinsson. If Detroit demands NHL-grade players, that could mean Simon Holmstrom or Calum Ritchie or Emil Heineman. If it’s prospects the Wings seek: the Isles could reach into a pool that includes sniper Cole Eiserman and bruising blueliner Kashawn Aitcheson. If we really want to get crazy: what about Mathew Barzal for Edvinsson? The trade is one for one. It was telling that Barzal didn’t receive a letter on his jersey for this season.
Fly in the ointment: Even with Romanov out, the Isles’ depth chart is somewhat crowded on defense with Logan Stanley having signed with the club in late September. Could New York make do without Romanov and avoid dipping into its pool of young talent to chase Edvinsson?
Philadelphia Flyers
Why he makes sense: The Flyers were singled out as a “great fit” for Edvinsson in a report from Sportsnet’s Seravalli last week, and it’s easy to see why. Smaller defensemen Cam York and Jamie Drysdale have really struggled so far this season, getting muscled off pucks too often, and the Flyers have the worst expected-goal differential in the NHL by a mile through a winless seven games in 2026-27. Adding Edvinsson would be in some ways like cloning the rangy, well-rounded Travis Sanheim and would surely stabilize the team’s own-zone play. Despite Drysdale’s and York’s struggles, each still has sufficient offensive upside to make sense as a building-block piece going Detroit’s way in a blockbuster trade. We also know the Flyers are more than willing to pay up for a player of Edvinsson’s ilk after GM Danny Briere laid down an $18-million whopper of an offer sheet for Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson over the summer.
Fly in the ointment: Offering just York, for instance, wouldn’t get a deal done. The Flyers would have to sacrifice another good young player, probably a forward, in a trade for Edvinsson. Would that mean Alex Bump? Jett Luchanko? The Flyers ideally would like to be younger and more dynamic at forward, specifically, so they’d have to be careful not to deplete their pipeline and/or active NHL lineup too much.
Seattle Kraken
Why he makes sense: The Kraken are mired in mediocrity, pretty much the league’s quintessential example of “too good to be bad and too bad to be good.” They know they need more prime-year stars in their lineup, which is why they tried and failed to land left winger Jason Robertson from the Dallas Stars over the offseason. They could use a sturdy all-around defenseman to build around over the long term, especially with Vince Dunn a pending UFA. Might Dunn even make sense to send Detroit’s way in a deal? He could sign an extension or could be flipped as a rental asset at the Trade Deadline.
Fly in the ointment: Edvinsson is an RFA, and a new contract would need to be baked into his deal. Despite a state-of-the-art new arena and the fact they play in a no-income-tax state, the Kraken haven’t had the easiest time wooing elite players; as top center Matty Beniers told us at the NHL Player Media Tour in September, they took it pretty personally when Robertson spurned them. Is there a chance Edvinsson wouldn’t want to move across the continent and sign with Seattle?
Toronto Maple Leafs
Why he makes sense: It’s no secret the Leafs want to add a bona fide top-four defenseman. We also know GM John Chayka is willing to swoop in any time a high-end player becomes available; the Leafs certainly didn’t have to trade Matthew Knies but were compelled to because they couldn’t pass up Kirill Marchenko. With Edvinsson in play, we can only assume Chayka will check on the price. Toronto also just placed top shutdown defenseman Chris Tanev on injured reserve and has ominously offered no timetable for his return. Though Edvinsson isn’t a righty like Tanev, Edvinsson would provide the vital two-way play the team lacks when Tanev is absent. If Tanev’s injury proves serious enough to land him on LTIR and secure the Leafs partial cap relief of $3,973,228, the Leafs may also have the flexibility needed to sign Edvinsson to a rich extension.
Fly in the ointment: Do the Leafs have the assets Detroit would want in a trade? Toronto has the Colorado Avalanche’s 2027 first-rounder, a.k.a. a glorified second-rounder, and Toronto doesn’t have its own pick in the first round again until 2029. It could include top prospect defenseman Ben Danford in an offer for Edvinsson, but Danford wouldn’t be enough. The Wings might want promising young forward Easton Cowan, and it would be a shame to move him just as his game takes a large step forward. Still, as the Leafs showed with Knies, you have to give something to get something and, as we learned from that trade, Chayka is not sentimental about his roster. Maybe the resolution would be to include Oliver Ekman-Larsson in a Danford trade should the Wings want to stay competitive in the present with an NHL-grade blueliner.
Utah Mammoth
Why he makes sense: The Mammoth are a rising NHL superpower. They remind me of the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes in that they drive the play well, have great roster depth and are layered in their talent between veterans (Anders Lee, Vincent Trocheck, MacKenzie Weegar), prime-year stalwarts (Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Mikhail Sergachev), young guns developing into stars (Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther) and a future wave of contributors (Tij Iginla, Caleb Desnoyers). Their versatility in roster structure and in assets make them arguably the best trade partner for Detroit – and Seravalli reports the Mammoth are a clear frontrunner to land Edvinsson. The Wings could ask for Desnoyers, or a big, young blueliner like Dmitri Simashev, as the centerpiece of a deal, for instance. The Mammoth have so many permutations that could make a deal work.
Fly in the ointment: Utah’s cap space sits just north of $5 million, and moving a pick or a player on an entry-level deal like Simashev wouldn’t clear enough room for Edvinsson’s new AAV, which should come in at double that number. That means GM Bill Armstrong would have to consider dipping into his veteran group and sacrificing a decent player to get a deal done.
Vancouver Canucks
Why he makes sense: The Canucks are trying to kickstart a new era. They have new team presidents in Henrik and Daniel Sedin; a new GM in Ryan Johnson; a new head coach in Manny Malhotra; a new future No. 1 center in Caleb Malhotra; and a relatively new and freshly re-signed No. 1 defenseman in Zeev Buium. Imagine building a D-corps around Buium and Edvinsson for the next seven seasons or more? It could put the Canucks on the path to relevance again. And perhaps the Sedin factor would attract the Swede Edvinsson and make him open to signing. Also: unlike some of the contender-grade teams on this list, the Canucks are rich in veteran assets they might be willing to move. If the Red Wings are hellbent on still trying to contend in the present, might they kick tires on Jake DeBrusk? Could they convince Vancouver to sell high on Elias Pettersson’s hot start?
Fly in the ointment: As a rebuilding team, the Canucks might be hesitant to part with picks or prospects to facilitate an Edvinsson trade. If Detroit decides it’s more interested in young assets and/or futures, Vancouver might not be an ideal trade partner as another franchise looking for the same thing.
Other Edvinsson suitors to watch: Columbus Blue Jackets, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators
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