A few games back, Detroit Red Wings coach Todd McLellan decided to shuffle his defense pairings.

He flipped Simon Edvinsson to the top pairing alongside Moritz Seider. Meanwhile, Ben Chiarot was slotting in with rookie Axel Sandin Pellikka in the second tandem.

Certainly, pairing Chiarot, the team’s most experienced blueliner, with Sandin Pellikka should prove beneficial to the 20-year-old rookie.

“I’ve noticed that all of those guys, whether it’s Simon as a young player or Benny as the senior guy back there, everybody seems to be helping Axe move on from a bad shift and get a pat from a good shift,” McLellan said. “So he has a real good support system.”

On the bench, advice flows. On the ice, it’s more learning by osmosis.

“When they’re on the ice, the help comes from verbal cues,”  McLellan said. “It comes from making him feel comfortable and working hard for him. And with him, when he gets to the bench, he has a whole team of players that are trying to help him, especially on the back end.”

ASP 👏

Axel Sandin-Pellikka’s got his first NHL goal! pic.twitter.com/gwrwkNuuVk

— NHL (@NHL) October 17, 2025

What McLellan especially likes about Sandin Pellikka is that he doesn’t allow a mistake to impact his psyche.

“The one thing with Axe is, it’s water off his back,” McLellan said. “He doesn’t crumble, he doesn’t hold up.

“He gets determined, and he wants to fix what was wrong and make what was right even better. And that’s a real positive sign.”

 The Move Should Also Benefit Red Wings Edvinsson

As much as the switch is giving Sandin Pellikka ready access to a veteran sounding board, he’s not going to be the only beneficiary of this move. Putting Edvinsson back with Seider gives the Red Wings a top pairing with two behemoths who play a physical brand of hockey.

The 6-foot-6, 222-pound Edvinsson is leading the club with 34 blocked shots. Seider, at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, is second among Red Wings defensemen with 29 hits.

SIMON EDVINSSON

FROM DOWN 4-0 TO UP 5-4
pic.twitter.com/dPIXvcCm2B

— Barstool Detroit (@BSMotorCity) October 26, 2025

More than the potential to be a physically dominant pairing, in tandem with Seider, Edvinsson should be given more freedom to freelance offensively. He’s at his most dangerous when he’s able to join the rush and dive down deep into the attacking zone on offensive forays.

Paired with Sandin Pellikka, Edvinsson was less likely to take those chances and risk leaving a rookie on his own to defend an odd-man rush. Working alongside Seider, Edvinsson can go for it confidently, knowing that the more experienced Seider is going to have his back.