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Simon Edvinsson

Detroit Red Wings Recall Austin Czarnik, Simon Edvinsson

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The Detroit Red Wings recalled center Austin Czarnik and defenseman Simon Edvinsson from the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins today under emergency conditions, as announced in a team release.

This is Edvinsson’s first recall to the NHL, and it could mean the 2021 sixth-overall pick makes his NHL debut over the weekend. He takes the place of Ben Chiarot on the roster, who is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

The 20-year-old Edvinsson has five goals, 27 points, and a -3 rating with the Griffins this season, his first in North America. Detroit inked him to an entry-level contract at the end of last season after Edvinsson broke into professional hockey full-time with Frölunda HC of the SHL.

Czarnik returns to Detroit after the team returned him to Grand Rapids earlier in the week. The diminutive, versatile forward has two goals and an assist in 15 appearances with the Red Wings this season. He will likely center the fourth line between Adam Erne and Alex Chiasson in tomorrow’s game against Colorado.

While a late-season slide unfortunately took Detroit out of the playoff picture just as the deadline approached, the benefits of selling can be seen here for a young team. Getting Edvinsson into some NHL games down the stretch could go a long way toward creating an NHL-ready player for next season.

Snapshots: Oilers, Edvinsson, Merilainen, Fitzgerald

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It appears as if the Oilers will have two of their star performers available for training camp as head coach Jay Woodcroft told 630 CHED (audio link) that both defenseman Darnell Nurse and center Leon Draisaitl are expected to be ready when team activities open up next month.  Nurse played through the playoffs with a torn hip flexor and while it was speculated at the time that he would need surgery, that wound up not being the case.  As for Draisaitl, he suffered what appeared to be a leg injury in the final game of the first round but still managed to go on a tear offensively in their last two rounds, putting up 23 points in just nine games.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • After missing Monday’s preliminary round game at the World Juniors, Sweden head coach Tomas Monten told NHL.com’s Mike Morreale (Twitter link) that blueliner Simon Edvinsson is expected to play in Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup against Latvia. The Red Wings prospect didn’t suit up last game due to an illness.  Edvinsson has a goal and an assist in three games so far while averaging a team-high 22:13 per contest.
  • Senators prospect Leevi Merilainen has decided to play in Finland this season over returning to Kingston of the OHL, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 20-year-old was a third-round pick in 2020 and played in 53 games with the Frontenacs last season, posting a 3.29 GAA and a .891 SV%.  However, he’s expected to get an opportunity to compete for the starting job with Karpat in Finland’s top division and Ottawa is in agreement that the opportunity to battle for that spot is what’s best for his development.
  • After spending the last two seasons with Philadelphia on an NHL two-way deal, the Flyers have brought back forward Ryan Fitzgerald on a minor league contract, per a team release from their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley. The 27-year-old was limited to just four games last season after undergoing surgery on both hips back in September.  The year before, he picked up 21 points in 28 games and a return to that level of performance could help secure him another NHL deal next summer.

Sweden Announces Preliminary Roster For 2022 WJC

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While the focus is on the Stanley Cup Final right now, fans will have some more hockey to watch later this summer, when the rescheduled World Junior Championship takes place in August. The event, which was postponed from its normal late-December timeslot because of a COVID-19 outbreak, will kick off on August 9 in Edmonton, Alberta.

All of the same players are eligible for the event, even if they have since turned 20, but with the tournament coming so close to the start of the NHL season, there will be quite a different look for many countries. That’s true for Sweden, who released their preliminary roster today:

G Jesper Wallstedt
G Calle Clang
G Carl Lindbom

D Helge Grans
D Emil Andrae
D Mattias Havelid
D Mans Forsfjall
D Simon Edvinsson
D Leo Loof
D William Wallinder
D Joel Nystrom

F Daniel Ljungman
F Fabian Lysell
F Ake Stakkestad
F William Eklund
F Linus Sjodin
F Victor Stjernborg
F Albert Sjoberg
F Isak Rosen
F Jonathan Lekkerimaki
F Theodore Niederbach
F Oskar Magnusson
F Daniel Torgersson

This is a great opportunity for someone like Lekkerimaki, the top Swede in this year’s draft. He will have already been selected by the time the tournament gets off but it likely means he’ll have a chance to take part in two of these events over just a few months.

If you think you see a number of Detroit Red Wings prospects, you aren’t wrong. Edvinsson’s inclusion is especially interesting as many believe he will challenge for a full-time roster spot next season. Eklund is in the same boat, after already playing nine games for the San Jose Sharks and recording four points.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Simon Edvinsson

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The Swedes are coming. Today, the Detroit Red Wings have officially signed top prospect Simon Edvinsson to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal will begin in 2022-23, opening up the possibility of him playing in the NHL next season.

Edvinsson, 19, was selected sixth overall by the Red Wings in 2021 and has quickly become one of the most highly regarded prospects in the world. The 6’5″ defenseman recorded 19 points in 44 games for Frolunda HC in the SHL this season, and looked as though he was a step ahead of many of his contemporaries in the two games before the World Juniors was canceled due to a COVID-19 outbreak. Edvinsson has first-pairing upside for the Red Wings and could quickly join former teammate Lucas Raymond on the ice for them next season.

Still, he does have a contract with Frolunda through 2022-23, meaning if he failed to make the Red Wings roster the team could choose to send him back to Sweden to continue his development overseas. Because he is a first-round pick, that is up to Detroit management, who could also send him directly to the AHL if they feel that’s a better level for him to be playing at this point in his career. William Wallinder, another Swedish defenseman (who won the SHL Junior Player of the Year), wouldn’t have the same luxury–he would have to be sent back overseas if he signed his entry-level deal and failed to make Detroit’s NHL roster because he was selected in the second round.

Either way, getting Edvinsson signed is a huge win for the Red Wings, who look like they will be competing for a playoff spot sooner rather than later. The idea of an Edvinsson-Moritz Seider pairing should have fans drooling, as they transition out of the rebuild and try to start pushing the program back to great heights.

Because he’s still so young–Edvinsson only turned 19 in February–this contract could actually still slide forward as well, should he fail to make the Red Wings next season. Even spending the whole year at the AHL level would not burn the first year of the deal, as Edvinsson will have up to nine NHL games before it kicks in.

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