Simon Edvinsson just finished a season that changed everything about how the league sees him. One year ago, he was a promising young defenseman with upside. Now he’s a legitimate No. 1 blue liner coming off a 2025-26 breakout with the Detroit Red Wings. And the timing of that breakout is about as complicated as it gets.
Edvinsson is a restricted free agent. The Red Wings have the cap space to keep him — fourth-most in the league per PuckPedia. But Steve Yzerman has never been the kind of GM to throw around top-of-market money. No one in Detroit makes more than $8.7 million right now. Edvinsson and his agents can look at the comparables around the league and make a strong case for $10 million or more. That’s a real negotiation, not a formality.
The Hurricanes Are Watching Closely
Meanwhile, the new Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes might have their own reasons to get involved. Elliotte Friedman dropped that name on the 32 Thoughts podcast Monday. He said he’d heard Edvinsson’s name come up in connection with Carolina, and it makes sense when you look at their situation.
“If they lose Alexander Nikishin, they’re gonna need a defenseman, right?” Friedman said. “And I think Edvinsson would be excellent for their system. So, I’ve kind of wondered if they’re eying him up and down, too.”
Nikishin is a restricted free agent himself. The Hurricanes have some work to do to keep their own core together. If they can’t, they’ll need a top-pairing replacement. Edvinsson and Moritz Seider formed one of the best defensive duos in hockey this past season. Dropping Edvinsson into Carolina’s system — a system that just won a Cup — is a scary thought for the rest of the East.
What It Would Take
Carolina GM Eric Tulsky has a reputation for finding creative ways to make things work. That creativity was a big part of why the Hurricanes just won it all. An offer sheet is possible. A trade is possible. Something nobody has thought of yet is possible. The Red Wings have the space to match almost anything, but Yzerman has shown he’s willing to let players walk if the price gets uncomfortable.
Detroit already signed Viktor Arvidsson to a two-year deal and traded for Keegan Kolesar. The Dylan Larkin trade request situation is still hanging over everything, but the Edvinsson decision might matter more for the long-term direction of the franchise. You don’t find many guys who can play 25 minutes a night and make the players around them better. The Red Wings have one. The question is whether they’re willing to pay what he’s worth.
Carolina might force that question sooner than Detroit would like.
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