The Red Wings have added another high-end defenseman to their rebuild -- and it's not hard to envision him playing alongside Moritz Seider for years to come.
The team drafted Simon Edvinsson sixth overall Friday night, a 6'5 Swede who takes after Nicklas Lidstrom.
"I’m a skating defenseman that likes to have the puck and make things out of it," Edvinsson said via Zoom shortly after the pick was announced. "I like killing plays. I like to give the team good effort on the ice. I’m a big-playing defenseman."
Edvinsson is a product of Frolunda, the same Swedish Hockey League club that produced Detroit's 2020 first-round pick Lucas Raymond. He also spent time this season with Vasteras IK, the same Swedish club that produced ... yep, Nicklas Lidstrom.
Edvinsson said he had "really great talks" with the Red Wings prior to the draft and called it "an unbelievable feeling" to hear his name called by an Original Six team.
He helped Sweden to the gold medal at the World Juniors and was ranked second second among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting entering the draft.
"This is a player who could be the next world star coming out of Sweden," says NHL director of European Scouting Goran Stubb. "He's really, really good. Has the size and the speed and the hockey sense. He's a leader, and he was probably the best 2021 NHL Draft-eligible prospect at the Under-18 World Championship."
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As a left-hand shot, Edvinsson would pair naturally with Seider, the sixth overall pick in 2019. With their mutual size and skating ability, they could form a dominant defensive pair in the NHL.
Especially if Edvinsson becomes anything like his idol.
"He's a legend here in Sweden," Edvinsson said of Lidstrom, via NHL.com. "He's a terrific guy. He's an easy player that makes great effort for the team. I think that's what every defender wants to achieve, being there for the team and to play easy, to be strong, aggressive and win 1-on-1 duels, to be harder to play against. That's what I like about him."