Red Wings rookie defenseman Simon Edvinsson won’t be playing hockey anytime soon.
On Tuesday, the team announced that the former first-round pick underwent successful surgery on his left shoulder. The recovery timeline is a little concerning. According to the Red Wings, the 20-year-old Swede will be out of commission somewhere between four and six months. At this point, the best-case scenario would be Edvinsson returns in time for training camp. If his recovery goes longer, he likely wouldn’t return to play sometime during the regular season.
This is a big bummer for fans, the team and most of all – Edvinsson himself. He was poised for a big offseason and expectations that he would push for a spot on the opening night roster. Losing an entire summer of training likely puts that on ice, no pun intended. Thankfully, he’s still very young. He doesn’t turn 21 until February – and he remains to be an important building block for Steve Yzerman’s Detroit Red Wings. I can’t help but to wonder if this will change Yzerman’s offseason strategy.
Edvinsson, who was Detroit’s top pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, made his debut in March and would go on to play nine regular-season games and registered two goals. The big man had an impressive rookie campaign in Grand Rapids – He registered 27 points (5-22–27) in 52 games.
