DETROIT -- Simon Edvinsson couldn’t help himself.
When the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on the road Monday, it was his 18th NHL game. It was his first against Victor Hedman. At times, the 21-year-old gawked at the 33-year-old, a childhood idol and model defenseman from his native Sweden.
“I kind of had to,” Edvinsson said, smiling. “When we were out there, it was game on. But when I sat on the bench, sometimes I just saw how he played the puck. Yeah, it was fun to see. …
“To see him so close and to see him work on the blue line, the power play, everything, of course, it helps you in the future. That was big.”
This is a big stretch for Edvinsson.
The Red Wings called up the No. 6 pick of the 2021 NHL Draft on March 19 hoping he could help them make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in eight seasons.
They find themselves in a tight, multiteam race for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference entering their game against the Buffalo Sabres at home Sunday (1 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, SN1).
But whatever happens in the short term, this experience should pay off in the long term for a player expected to be a key piece for years to come.
“I feel like I’ve been growing every game,” Edvinsson said. “To go up here this time of the year, of course, it’s pressure. Every point matters. I feel like I’ve been adjusting my game towards that, to the games we’ve been playing, and getting more comfortable during the time I’ve been up here.”
The Lightning selected Hedman with the No. 2 pick of the 2009 NHL Draft, and he became a superstar with size (6-foot-7, 244 pounds) and skill. He won the Norris Trophy in 2017-18, voted the NHL’s best defenseman, and Conn Smythe Trophy in 2020, voted the playoffs most valuable player. He won the Cup in 2020 and 2021.
But though Hedman came straight to North America and made his NHL debut at 18 on Oct. 3, 2009, it took time for him to develop. Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman saw it firsthand. He was the GM of the Lightning from 2010-18 and a senior advisor in 2018-19.
Edvinsson has size (6-4, 209) and skill too, but he spent 2021-22 with Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League and most of the past two seasons with Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League.
“To see Hedman’s growth of being so raw as a young player, it’s amazing,” said Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde, an assistant under Lightning coach Jon Cooper from 2018-22. “I wasn’t there when he was really young, but to hear Steve and Jon Cooper talk, it’s almost uncanny some of the same concerns that are growth that we’re going through with Simon.”
Edvinsson had 27 points (five goals, 22 assists) in 52 games for Grand Rapids last season. He had two goals in nine games for Detroit at the end of the season, after the Red Wings were out of the playoff race.
He went back to Grand Rapids this season. Before his recent call-up, he had played only two games for Detroit -- a 3-2 loss at the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 23 and 6-3 loss at the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 27 -- recording an assist. But he continued to play big minutes in all situations in Grand Rapids and had 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists) in 52 games.
“I feel like it’s better to be more than ready than to be the reverse,” Edvinsson said. “Could I have been up sooner? Maybe. But I feel like that’s the past, and now I think of what I can do to help this team moving forward.”
When Detroit called up Edvinsson this time, it was partly because defenseman Jake Walman had a lower-body injury. But the Red Wings also were in an 1-8-0 slump, and Yzerman said, “We expect him to play, and we expect him to contribute.”
That he has done. He stayed in the lineup after Walman returned from a six-game absence. He has killed penalties, competed hard and been more physical than in the past, averaging 19:01 of ice time over the past eight games, third among Red Wings defenseman in that span. Detroit has gone 3-3-2.
Still, he’s a work in progress. He has no points, and the Red Wings have had 43.6 percent of the shot attempts when he has been on the ice at 5-on-5. He has provided teachable moments for associate coach Bob Boughner, who runs the defense.
“You can see he’s given great minutes,” Lalonde said. “He’s been a puck transporter. He’s had great defensive stops. The long stick has kept pucks alive.
“But even the other day (against Tampa Bay), he was starting to get really comfortable, and he was the first man on the forecheck a couple times. He got caught into some gray ice a couple times where they’re one play away from making a play.
“It’s just part of the growth of a thoroughbred. You want to let them grow a little bit, but you’ve got to reel them in. The whole game, I’m like, ‘Boogs, reel Simon in.’ And he’s like, ‘I’m on it! I’m on it!’”
It’s a process.
“That’s all just part of the growth and learning,” Lalonde said. “This is why you want to put these guys in those really, really big situations. Playing last year at this time is a lot different than playing this year at this time, where every play and every puck matters.”
