The San Jose Sharks are the most likely destination for Simon Edvinsson if the Detroit Red Wings trade the unsigned defenseman, TSN insider Chris Johnston said Friday, according to Detroit Sports Nation. The report is unconfirmed. The Red Wings have not announced a trade, and Edvinsson remains unsigned as a restricted free agent.
Johnston said San Jose is “very much in” on Edvinsson, and he named the Anaheim Ducks and Boston Bruins as other teams that would make sense. He also pointed to Dec. 1 as a hard deadline. Under NHL rules, a restricted free agent who has not signed by then cannot play in the league that season, which puts pressure on both sides to either sign the 23-year-old or move him. Johnston added that a return to Sweden has been discussed as a possibility if nothing is resolved.
The report fits a pattern. Mitten Hockey reported on Oct. 31 that the Sharks had made what was described as a serious offer that Detroit turned down, and on Nov. 3 that San Jose had made several of its young players available in the talks. Boston has also been linked to Edvinsson since early October.
Edvinsson has been training in North America while the standoff continues. Detroit Hockey Now noted Friday that he was spotted skating at the Nashville Predators’ practice facility in Red Wings gear, which Nashville described as a private ice rental.
Interim general manager Shawn Horcoff said in October that the team had no interest in trading Edvinsson. The Red Wings, 7-7-3 after Thursday’s 2-1 loss to Vegas, open a four-game road trip Saturday in Colorado while also working through Dylan Larkin’s trade request.
Earlier on Mitten Hockey: Report: Sharks made Bystedt, Chernyshov, and Verhoeff available in Simon Edvinsson talks and Report: Sharks made a ‘serious’ offer for Simon Edvinsson that the Red Wings turned down.
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