Simon Edvinsson, Red Wings stare down December 1 deadline

The countdown is officially loud now. The capologists who live and breathe this stuff are starting to lay out how it ends.

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Time is running out for Simon Edvinsson to sign a new contract in order to be eligible to play this season. A breakdown of the scenarios for Edvinsson and #LGRW as we approach the deadline in this week's PuckDrop newsletter. t.co/eTa0BIV1cu

That deadline is real and it's hard. Edvinsson has to sign by the afternoon of December 1, either with Detroit or with a team that trades for him and signs him. Miss it and the 23-year-old sits for the whole 2026-27 season. He hasn't played a game yet. He reported to camp in September, went back to Sweden after the preseason because he was frustrated with where talks stood, and lately he's been spotted skating at the Nashville Predators' practice facility just to stay sharp.

The front office doesn't seem to have seen this coming. Interim GM Shawn Horcoff said he didn't expect the trip back to Sweden and called Edvinsson a priority. On October 14 Horcoff said Detroit had zero interest in trading him. Then the trade noise got loud. Elliotte Friedman reported Edvinsson would rather be dealt, and TSN reported as many as 10 teams have checked in, with Boston and San Jose among the names out there. As of November 3, Darren Dreger said Detroit still saw a glimmer of hope of getting him re-signed.

So how are the Wings getting by in the meantime? The kids. Helene St. James at the Free Press wrote up how 2 young defensemen have taken over the minutes Edvinsson left open.

Credit where it's due: Anton Johansson and William Wallinder keeping the blue line afloat is the only reason this standoff hasn't turned into a full-blown crisis. It also hands Detroit some leverage. Every week the young guys hold up is one more week the Wings can tell themselves they don't need to cave on money. The flip side is that solid depth play isn't the same thing as a potential top-pair defenseman, and that's what Edvinsson is supposed to be.

Here's what to watch over the next 3 weeks. Either the two sides finally meet in the middle, or Horcoff gets the perfect package he's reportedly waiting on, or nothing happens and a cornerstone defenseman loses an entire season to a staring contest. Nobody wins that last one. December 1 is coming either way.