Although it appears acting GM Shawn Horcoff has some room to work when it comes to trying to add to Detroit’s roster, he isn’t working on their biggest files at the moment. In a recent interview with Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom, CAA’s Peter Werner, one of the representatives for defenseman Simon Edvinsson, noted that talks about a new contract are on hold until a permanent GM is found.
The 23-year-old was the sixth overall pick by the Red Wings back in 2021. While they took things slow with his development as they often do with their prospects, Edvinsson quickly demonstrated that he was ready for extended NHL duty. After two very promising seasons with AHL Grand Rapids, the defenseman made the jump on a full-time basis in the 2024-25 campaign.
That year, he put up an impressive 31 points in 78 games while logging over 21 minutes per night of ice time. Last season, his production dipped slightly to nine goals and 16 assists in 72 contests but he averaged more than 22 minutes per game of playing time, second to only Moritz Seider.
At first glance, it would stand to reason that Detroit would want to keep Edvinsson’s contract below Seider’s, given that the latter is clearly their number one defenseman. Seider is entering the third season of a seven-year, $59.85MM contract ($8.55MM AAV). That deal was signed off his entry-level contract which is the same situation that Edvinsson is in.
However, the Upper Limit of the salary cap is a fair bit higher now than it was when Seider signed. By direct comparison, Seider’s 9.72% of the cap when his deal was signed is equivalent to $10.108MM today. While Edvinsson isn’t as proven as Seider was at the time, his camp certainly has a case to make that he should be making comparable money. To that end, AFP Analytics projects that a seven-year deal would be worth around $8.77MM per season, slightly above Seider’s cap hit but the percentage of the cap is lower at roughly 8.4%.
While Edvinsson is technically eligible to sign an offer sheet as a restricted free agent, Werner’s comment about waiting for Detroit’s GM search to conclude suggests that’s not an avenue the blueliner is currently considering. But while that should be comforting for the organization, with training camps now just a month away, there might be a bit of a race to get something done once Steve Yzerman’s successor is found. And if both sides want to work out a max-term eight-year agreement, they only have until the middle of September to do so.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect.