The Red Wings have been without left-shot defender Simon Edvinsson for the past two games due to a lower-body injury, and it doesn’t sound as though he’ll be rejoining the team anytime soon. Head coach Todd McLellan told reporters today, including The Athletic’s Max Bultman , that Edvinsson will be out through the Olympic break.
For a Detroit team thin on defensive depth and in the thick of the race for the Atlantic Division title, it’s a brutal injury. The timing is the only saving grace – Detroit only has five games left before the schedule goes on pause for most of February, so even if Edvinsson is out for over a month of real time, he’ll only miss seven games. Whether he’s able to suit up when the Wings hit the ground running against the Senators on Feb. 26 remains to be seen, but considering he was only listed as day-to-day to start, it seems likely.
Edvinsson, who’ll turn 23 over the break, hasn’t upped his offensive stats from last season’s breakout showing but is taking on increased responsibility as the Wings’ top blue-line support piece to Norris candidate Moritz Seider . That was due in part to a slow start – just one goal and a -3 rating through his first eight games – but his play has stabilized now. Past the halfway point, the 6’6″ Swede has contributed six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 48 outings with a +6 rating. He’s averaging 22:35 of ice time per game, up more than a minute from last year and top-45 in the league overall.
Selected sixth overall in 2021, Edvinsson’s two-way play has been outstanding. Instead of having him slot in separately from Seider as the Wings did last year, the two have played together at even strength for most of this season with spectacular results. The duo controls 55.3% of expected goals at 5-on-5, per MoneyPuck , and have outscored opponents 31-21. Only Seider has a better shot attempt share on the Wings at even strength beyond Edvinsson’s 51.7%.
Detroit’s gone 1-0-1 so far without Edvinsson, and they’ll hope to keep that record up in the interim. They don’t have many great options to elevate alongside Seider. For now, they’re back to relying on overtaxed veteran Ben Chiarot in those top-pairing duties. He has the worst possession numbers among any Detroit regular on the blue line this season, although his two-way results with Seider have been much improved on years past, with a 53.1 xGF%. If the Wings can keep getting that level of chemistry out of them in the short term, they should be able to navigate this stretch fairly well.
The Wings technically remain in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 32-16-5 record and 69 points, but they’ve trailed the Lightning in points percentage for the last several days by virtue of the Bolts having multiple games in hand. They’ve yet to pull away from them and, with the streaking Sabres hot on both their tails for a top-two spot in the division, an extended losing streak can still spell significant doom with only an eight-point cushion between them and the outside of the playoff picture.