- Simon Edvinsson is practicing at Red Wings camp with no contract and calls it a PTO
- Todd McLellan says the delay is not the defenseman’s fault and wants his own front office moving
- Read below for what interim GM Shawn Horcoff said about getting the deal finished
Simon Edvinsson could be sitting in Sweden right now, waiting on a contract. He showed up to Red Wings training camp instead, unsigned and, by his own description, on a tryout.
The 23-year-old restricted free agent is skating in drills and sitting out the intrasquad scrimmages. Asked Friday to describe his status, he had his own title ready.
“I’m on a PTO (professional tryout) actually. I’m not stressed at all.”
Staying home never appealed to him. “I don’t see the reason for me to sit at home,” Edvinsson said. “We are going into a new season where it’s important that everybody is linked together. Everybody needs to be on the same page. That was my reasoning to come over here.”
Watch his full media session alongside Moritz Seider:
Front office chaos is the reason there is no deal yet. Detroit removed Steve Yzerman as general manager in July and spent the rest of the summer without anyone who could negotiate a contract.
Shawn Horcoff only picked up that authority Tuesday, when he was named interim GM. He has already called the Edvinsson deal a priority, and he made it clear this week that a rebuild is off the table in Detroit.
“Simon is a fantastic player and a bright spot in our organization,” Horcoff said, “so we’re going to get to work on that contract as soon as we can and hopefully have something done here shortly.”
McLellan was asked about Edvinsson reporting anyway, and the coach turned his answer into a message aimed at the people above him:
“He’s not signed right now. That’s not his fault. We haven’t had a lot of ability in the organization to get all that stuff done. So give him credit. He’s come over, and now it’s time for our organization to work fast with him and fair.”
Catch the coach’s full Friday session here:
A big raise is coming whenever the paperwork lands. Detroit took Edvinsson sixth overall in 2021, and last season he put up 25 points in 72 games while averaging 22:21 a night, second on the roster behind Seider. He did all of that on a deal worth under $1 million.
He has watched what young defensemen are cashing in for this summer, too. “I would be lying if I said no,” Edvinsson said. “The cap is going up. Everybody’s trying to secure players, young players. I think that’s the way the league is going right now.”
Edvinsson says he and Horcoff have already had one good conversation. Detroit opens the regular season Oct. 2, which gives the interim GM about two weeks to turn a tryout back into a top-four defenseman.
