The vibes around the 2026-27 Detroit Red Wings continue to be absolutely miserable.
Defenseman Simon Edvinsson, who remains unsigned as a restricted free agent and is currently training in Sweden, is the latest player to reportedly prefer a trade away from the organization.
It is another stunning twist in a baffling storyline that has been unfolding in Detroit since the end of the 2025-26 regular season.
Simon Edvinsson is the latest Detroit Red Wings player who would prefer a trade
The Edvinsson report comes from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman on Saturday night, and continues to leave the organization in a shockingly grim situation.
This news comes after forward Dylan Larkin, the team’s former captain, was loudly booed prior to the team’s home opener on Friday night as he continues to seek a trade. Larkin requested a trade earlier in the offseason while former general manager Steve Yzerman was running the team, and it is believed that his request is still active.
In Larkin’s case, you can kind of understand his frustration, and when news of his request first surfaced, it seemed to come from a place of frustration over all of the losing he has endured. It seemed to be more of a statement on the failed nature of the Red Wings’ rebuild under Yzerman than anything else.
After all, Larkin has been through the entire 10-year playoff drought the Red Wings have been on, and he also never seemed to see eye-to-eye with Yzerman’s vision for the team.
It was not (and is not) great for the Red Wings that the captain (and a Michigan native) wants out, but you can kind of see where he is coming from.
The Edvinsson situation is just shocking and an absolute fumble by management and ownership. He is only 23 years old, one of the best young players in the organization, and should be seen as a long-term building block. He was so committed to being a part of the Red Wings this season that he even showed up to training camp to be with the team despite not having a contract, which is unheard of in professional sports.
Now?
He is so frustrated with the state of the negotiations that he would reportedly prefer to play elsewhere.
Further complicating matters with both Larkin and Edvinsson is that the Red Wings do not have a full-time general manager after Yzerman was removed from the role. Shawn Horcoff is serving as the interim general manager, but it remains to be seen how much authority he has to make trades or issue long-term contract extensions.
None of this even gets into the fact the roster, even with Larkin and Edvinsson, likely would not be good enough to end the playoff drought. Without them it might end up being one of the worst in the league. This is a franchise that once went 24 consecutive years in the playoffs, winning multiple Stanley Cups in that time. It has now been reduced to a bad team that some of its best players do not want to play for anymore.
