Life Without Edvinsson Wouldn’t be Pretty for Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings were opting to take Thursday off. That means we won’t be getting an update on the status of injured defenseman Simon Edvinsson prior to Friday.

So it’s another day for Red Wings fans to wait, worry and stew over how bad it might be.

“No update,” was all Detroit coach Derek Lalonde had to share with the media late Wednesday.

UPDATE: Simon Edvinsson (upper-body injury) will not return to tonight’s game.

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 19, 2024

At the outset of the NHL season, there were strong hopes that Edvinsson would grow into a role where he’d ultimately be a key piece of the puzzle for Detroit. However, even the most Pollyanna of optimists couldn’t have imagined his presence would become this vital this quickly.

Edvinsson, who left Wednesday’s 6-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers midway through the first period, is playing in the top pairing with Moritz Seider. Analytics show that they both rank among the top 10 in the NHL when it comes to effective defending.

Edvinsson averages 20:44 of ice time per game. Seider is skating a team-high 24:59 a night, but that workload will be increasing. Wednesday, Seider played 28:02.

It’s often said of the Red Wings rearguard that they have a top pairing and a bunch of 5-6-7 defenders and that’s not wrong.

Red Wings Thin Blue Line

Ben Chiarot, who played his way out of the top pairing alongside Seider, is going back into that role. He was out there for a game-high 29:14 in the win over Philly. That’s some scary math, considering that he’s dead last on the Red Wings with an SAT% of 41.7.

In Edvinsson’s absence, though, that’s far from the scariest notion to consider. Think about this, for instance:

Which is going to give you more sleepless nights – a second pairing of Jeff Petry and Justin Holl, or a third pairing in which Erik Gustafsson is an ever-present in the lineup?

Simon Edvinsson left for the dressing room after being hurt on this play. No word yet on what it is – speculation on the broadcast that it could be his arm (maybe from the Tkachuk slash?). #LGRW pic.twitter.com/Koeok695Tf

— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) December 6, 2024

During Wednesday’s win, every Detroit skater who played the whole game was either plus or even. Gustafsson was minus-2. in just 15:30 of ice time, he managed to commit a team-high three giveaways.

Gustafsson is committing a team-worst 6.18 giveaways per 60 minutes. Right behind him are Holl (5.65) and Johansson (4.86). And with Edvinsson, all three of those guys are going to seeing a whole bunch more ice time.

The Red Wings recognize how much they will be missing Edvinsson.

“Yeah, obviously that pairing has been really good for us with Mo and Simon,” forward Patrick Kane said. “Not really sure what’s going on with them.”

At this juncture, no one outside of the team’s inner circle knows for sure what’s going on with Edvinsson.

All anyone can do is hope for the best, and be prepared for the worst.