Combining Reliability and Dynamism, Edvinsson Earns Immediate Trust in Latest Red Wings Call-Up

In his latest NHL call-up, Simon Edvinsson has wasted no time earning the trust of his coach, suggesting that he's reached the call-up that will last

For all the metrics available with which to evaluate Simon Edvinsson's latest call-up to the Red Wings, the most insightful number of all is the simplest: 19:40, his ice time Thursday night in a 6-3 win over the Islanders.  In a crucial, late season game against a direct wild card rival, Edvinsson finished fifth among Red Wing skaters in ice time.  To add a second figure, nearly three of those minutes (2:55 to be precise) came short-handed.  

With Edvinsson, 21 years old and standing all of six-foot-six while skating with equal measures of power and grace, the physical tools have been obvious since before he was drafted, but in his latest two-game stint in Detroit, he's proven something different by earning the immediate trust of the Red Wings coaching staff, a necessary step to making a meaningful contribution to the present playoff push.

When asked yesterday how Edvinsson's managed that feat, Derek Lalonde offered a laundry list of bright spots from the young defenseman's game: "Defending well.  He's managed the game very well.  He's not found himself in much trouble, but he's also brought some physicality to his game, which is good.  His size too—the long stick.  Obviously, he made some plays defensively with the long stick, but he kept a couple plays offensively alive with his long stick that end up in the back of their net 20, 30 seconds later.  Hopefully he can keep building his game, but a really good start two games into it."

Edvinsson himself also believes that his present opportunity began with his work in his own of the rink, telling The Hockey News yesterday, "I think most of it is my defensive play. I feel like I've developed a lot now during the two years I've been here. I feel like everything is coming together. It takes a couple of games too, getting to the speed, getting to the physicality."

As Olli Maatta pointed out to THN, there is nothing mysterious about earning a coach's trust as a young defenseman, saying "Not a lot goes into it: You play good, you play."

"There's a reason why he's playing here right now and a reason why he's playing so much," Maatta continued.  "He's obviously doing a great job logging those minutes, and I think we all know how good of a player he is. He's a great skater. He's really hard to play against. He uses his body well. And he has a lot of skill too, a lot of upside offensively. He's been great for us the last two games, and I know he's gonna be great for us on the way in."

For Edvinsson, this call-up came with Detroit having lost eight of nine with its once flourishing playoff hopes on life support.  That's hardly an optimal environment to earn your place as a youngster, but he's done just that straight away with an easygoing mentality that feels appropriate to his huge frame and smooth skating.  "Of course it's special," he said of his opportunity.  "Everybody here is hoping for playoffs, and it's just come along and go with the team I guess. So far it's been a good ride."

In defense partner Jeff Petry, a 36-year-old in his 14th NHL season, Edvinsson has a reliable sounding board for whatever uncertainties the playoff chase might bring.  "He's been in the league for many years, and I ask him a lot of questions, and he's always got the answer for them," Edvinsson says of Petry.  "I feel like we have a good chemistry when we're out there playing. That's something that we've got to take and build on."

It hasn't been perfect so far for Edvinsson, but his impact on the Red Wings blue line has been immediate and undeniable.  It's started in the D zone, where his reach and physicality have helped him kill plays and his progressive passing has helped Detroit transition up ice.  In the offensive zone, he's extended plays with that same reach and shown the instincts and vision to create chances.  What stands out all over the ice is his poise—showing an unshakable calm in the face of pressure from an opposing forechecker or when it's time for a snap decision in the offensive zone.

"I feel good," Edvinsson says. "I feel some small things [I] can get a little bit more comfortable in, but I feel like it's coming. I know what I have to work on. I know what I have to do to play a good hockey game. Of course everything isn't going to come right away. It's hard to do, but it's just get those reps in."

Perhaps the greatest challenge for any young player is consistency, and as Lalonde said, to fully realize his and their potential, the Red Wings will be counting on Edvinsson to keep growing beyond this strong start.  But that's a challenge, like the others he's already cleared, that Edvinsson stares down undaunted: "Of course the intensity was up a level the last game from the previous game I played, and I think it's only gonna ramp up."

Edvinsson's gifts may be obvious, but to express them at the NHL level isn't a question of his skill.  It's a matter of earning the trust from his coaches necessary to get the ice time he needs to do so.  Two games into his latest stint in Detroit, Edvinsson's earned that trust and has his coach believing even more will follow.  It's early yet in the 21-year-old's career, but the ice time he's earned at this critical moment in the season suggests that at last he's a Red Wing to stay, with no need for any more AHL seasoning.

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