Simon Edvinsson, for now, is here out of necessity. In explaining the Red Wings' decision to recall their top prospect from Grand Rapids on Tuesday, the first thing Derek Lalonde said was, "Jake Walman is unavailable for us." Walman, said Lalonde, has had "a lower-body, nagging issue for a while, so we’re gonna give him some time to rest it." Insert fellow left-shot defenseman.
It doesn't mean that Edvinsson won't stay out of merit.
"A little boost, maybe," said Lalonde. "With Wally out, he’s been playing top pair, I don’t know if that’s putting Simon in a position to succeed, but he’ll probably get some top-four minutes and go from there."
A boost is what the Red Wings need, particularly on the blue line. They have collapsed defensively during a slide in which they've lost eight of nine and tumbled in the playoff race. An eight-point cushion on a wild-card berth has become a one-point deficit entering play Tuesday night, when Edvinsson will be on the ice against the Blue Jackets. He'll play on the second pair with 14-year vet Jeff Petry, with whom he played in camp, while Ben Chiarot steps in for Walman alongside Moritz Seider.
"I think he just brings a lot of energy, brings a lot of fresh wind into our locker room," Seider said. "Maybe that’s what we need, a different spark. ... He’s shown that he could play at (this) level."
"He has the skillset to be here and to do well," said Petry.
Indeed, Edvinsson looked like he belonged in a nine-game cameo at the end of last season. You might remember how he knocked Nathan MacKinnon on his MacKeister on one of his first NHL shifts, then toppled Matthew Tkachuk in his very next game. Edvinsson is 6'6 and relishes these sort of encounters. The former sixth overall pick is also a smooth skater who stood out to Seider last season for "his confidence with the puck."
"Has a real solid first pass, knows how to skate. Feel like he never gets tired, which is huge," Seider said. "And isn’t afraid of big names, and that’s what we need here."
The Red Wings don't just look tired in their own zone lately; that would be putting it kindly. They look weary. Their structure has eroded and their poise has betrayed them. They've allowed 4.8 goals per game over their nine-game slide, directly after winning six in a row while allowing just 1.6 goals per game. Edvinsson won't cure this himself, and the Wings don't expect him to.
But it's no coincidence that when Steve Yzerman was asked earlier this month about Edvinsson's maturation this season in Grand Rapids, he said the 21-year-old is "becoming an excellent, excellent defender." Indeed, Edvinsson said Tuesday that "the D zone has been my biggest" area of growth.
"I would say more mentally, like, more in my head," he said. "Getting those reps in defensively on the smaller ice (surface in North America), it just helps to get to that point to be engaged in every situation, to want to win every battle. The compete has been big for me. I feel like I’ve developed a compete on the ice that I didn’t have before, and that’s been my biggest thing, I think."
On and off the ice, Edvinsson is a cool customer. He's thrived at every level of his young career, from the Swedish Hockey League to the American -- even the National Hockey League last season. The Red Wings sent him to Grand Rapids this season, said Yzerman, to log top-pair minutes and to play in more offensive situations, including the power play. Edvinsson has handled those challenges well. But it's the defensive side of the puck where "he's really improved," Yzerman said.
And now he joins a team desperate to improve defensively. Asked what the Red Wings want to see out of Edvinsson, Lalonde said, "Consistency -- what he's been down there. Eliminate the mistakes. As good as he’s looked up here, he’s prone to some big mistakes and ended up giving up some easy offense."
"He’s a very confident kid, not much fazes him — unfortunately in both ways," Lalonde said. "He can be a guy standing on their blue paint with odd numbers going the other way, too. It’s just a little in his DNA, which is fine. So, just play within yourself, play simple. We ask our guys to be simple and predictable on the backend, so we’ll have the same message to him."
Which basically echoes the other message for Edvinsson: You don't have to save us. Of course, Edvinsson would love to be a solution. While his call-up last year came at the same time -- Edvinsson debuted one year ago yesterday -- the Wings were already playing out the string of another lost season, their seventh in a row missing the playoffs. And Edvinsson was just getting his feet wet in the NHL.
"Now it’s a different situation," he said. "We’re hunting for a playoff spot. It’s more pressure, but that’s why you play hockey. I like those moments. To get this opportunity now, I’m happy for it. I’ll take it and do my best to help the team win."
And if he does, a call-up could turn into a permanent stay. A cameo could become, in time, a starring role. Even when the Red Wings' blue line gets healthy -- they have a couple other defensemen "under the weather," per Lalonde -- Edvinsson could stick around by playing well. He could force the club to keep him in Detroit.
"Oh yeah, for sure," said Lalonde. "We’re looking for solutions and answers."
That's what everyone wants, even if it would force the Wings into a difficult decision with one of their veteran defensemen. If Edvinsson stays in the lineup when Walman returns, someone on the left side has to sit, likely Olli Maatta -- who's played 138 games for Detroit the past two seasons and is signed through next season. But the Red Wings have had Justin Holl and his $10.2 million contract sitting in the press box for the better part of the last seven weeks, so tenure shouldn't matter here.
The only defenseman who should stand in Simon Edvinsson's way of a full-time role down the stretch is Simon Edvinsson. And frankly, win or lose, the Red Wings could afford to give Edvinsson the games. Put another way, how much longer can they afford not to? He needs the exposure, even if he's exposed -- especially if he's exposed. The Red Wings will be counting on him next season to win a job off the jump.
"I think for Simon," said Lalonde, "just get him in the flow of the game and see how he handles it."
Here's betting he handles it well, and helps stabilize a staggering team. The Wings will also get Dylan Larkin back soon, with huge games looming against the Islanders, Capitals and Lightning, all within five points of each other in the wild card race. Despite an ugly stretch for Detroit, "we still have a chance on our own to make a run," said Seider, "and show everybody what we’re really built of."
"We have to win," said Edvinsson.
They really can't lose by keeping him around.