Simon Edvinsson Trade Request: Should the Maple Leafs Make the Call?

Simon Edvinsson trade request: what was reported

The Simon Edvinsson trade story went from contract stalemate to open market on Oct. 3, when Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that the unsigned Detroit Red Wings defenceman would now prefer to be traded. Edvinsson, 23, is a restricted free agent. He worked out with Detroit during training camp, went home to Sweden when camp ended without a deal, and is skating with his old SHL club, Frolunda, while he waits. According to Friedman, the two sides are not currently negotiating.

Detroit has not moved off its position. The Red Wings have told other clubs that their goal is still to sign him, and interim general manager Shawn Horcoff has said publicly that Edvinsson is a priority and that the club is still working toward an agreement. Both things can be true. A team can want to keep a player and still listen when he says he would rather leave.

For the Maple Leafs, this matters for two reasons. Toronto has spent the first week of the season being linked to every available top-four defenceman, and Edvinsson is younger and better than anyone else on that list. And Detroit is an Atlantic Division rival whose front office is in limbo. That combination does not come around often.

How Detroit got here

We laid out the background in September, when we wrote that Detroit had four days and nobody to sign Edvinsson before the eight-year contract maximum expired. Steve Yzerman stepped down as general manager on July 15. Horcoff has run the department on an interim basis since, and owner Christopher Ilitch has hired the search firm TurnkeyZRG to find a permanent replacement. Reports on the search have repeatedly described Horcoff as handling day-to-day business while stopping short of franchise-altering decisions.

The Sept. 15 deadline came and went. The new collective bargaining agreement took effect the next day, which means the most Detroit can now offer is seven years. In his 32 Thoughts column, Friedman reported that heading into late September the Red Wings were firm on a bridge contract, while Edvinsson's side wanted either a short deal or the maximum term. Neither side moved, and the defenceman was left off Detroit's opening-night roster.

Edvinsson is not the only problem on Horcoff's desk. Dylan Larkin has already asked out, a saga we covered when Larkin ran captains' practices during the stalemate, and Alex DeBrincat is a pending unrestricted free agent. Whoever eventually takes the permanent job inherits all three files.

Why Edvinsson is worth the trouble

Edvinsson was the sixth overall pick in 2021. He is a 6-foot-6, left-shot defenceman who skates well for his size, kills penalties and plays big minutes. Last season he scored nine goals and 25 points in 72 games while averaging 22:21 of ice time. The year before, he had seven goals and 31 points in 78 games. Those numbers are solid rather than spectacular. His value lies in the minutes he can handle, his age and the fact that he has not yet hit his prime.

Detroit's opening-night defence without him was Moritz Seider, Ben Chiarot, Justin Faulk, Albert Johansson, Anton Johansson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka and William Wallinder. Take Edvinsson out and Seider is the only proven top-pair defender in that group. That is exactly why the Red Wings would demand a lot in any trade. One widely syndicated analysis put Detroit's likely price at an "absolute haul", and that is not an exaggeration.

Where he would fit on the Maple Leafs blue line

Toronto's defence is old, expensive and committed long-term. The table below lays out the seven NHL defencemen on the cap sheet, with contract figures from our Maple Leafs contracts page and ages as of today.

PlayerShotAgeCap hitSigned throughDarren RaddyshRight30$8.5 million2033-34Morgan RiellyLeft32$7.5 million2029-30Chris TanevRight36$4.5 million2029-30Jake McCabeLeft32$4.49 million2029-30Oliver Ekman-LarssonLeft35$3.5 million2027-28Nick BlankenburgRight28$1.4 million2026-27Troy StecherRight32$1.35 million2027-28

Nobody in that group is under 28. All three left-shot regulars are 32 or older, and Ekman-Larsson is 35. Edvinsson would be the youngest defenceman on the roster by five years. He would slot in on the left side of the top four and push Ekman-Larsson into a third-pair role that suits him better at this stage of his career.

That is a different argument from the one we made against Roman Josi and Dougie Hamilton. In our piece on Toronto's top-four defenceman hunt, the objection was that both are 33-plus, both carry about $9 million and both duplicate puck-moving skills the Leafs already have. Edvinsson fixes the age problem and adds size and reach the Leafs do not have. He is the kind of defender Toronto should be shopping for. Whether Toronto can afford him is another matter.

What the Maple Leafs could actually offer

This is where it gets uncomfortable. John Chayka spent Toronto's best young trade chip when Matthew Knies went to Columbus for Kirill Marchenko on Sept. 29. The Leafs' own first-round picks in 2027 and 2028 already belong to Boston and Philadelphia. Toronto's draft-pick ledger, tracked on our Maple Leafs draft picks page, leaves it with one realistic first-round asset:

• Colorado's 2027 first. Acquired for Nicolas Roy on March 5, 2026. It is top-10 protected; if it lands in the top 10, Colorado sends its unprotected 2028 first instead.
• Toronto's own 2029 first. Available, but three drafts away. A club in Detroit's position will discount a pick that far out.
• Prospects. Ben Danford, the 2024 first-rounder now on the Marlies, is the most obvious name. Easton Cowan and Gavin McKenna should be treated as off-limits, and the Red Wings would ask for both.

Put that package next to what Detroit would want for a 23-year-old top-pair defenceman and it falls short. A late first, a 2029 first and a defence prospect is a fair price for a good second-pair player. It is not what you pay for a former sixth overall pick at the start of his prime. Toronto would almost certainly have to include an established NHL player, and the only ones Detroit would want are the ones the Leafs are building around.

The offer sheet route is closed

The obvious question is whether Toronto could skip Detroit's asking price with an offer sheet. PuckPedia argued last week that a one-year offer sheet could cause Detroit real problems, because a club that matches cannot trade the player for a full year. It is a clever idea. Toronto cannot use it at a meaningful price.

Offer-sheet compensation must be paid in the signing team's own original picks. The 2026 compensation tiers that apply this season are set out below.

Average annual valueCompensation owedCan Toronto pay it?Up to $1,575,969NoneYes$1,575,970 to $2,387,833Third-round pickNo, own 2027 third is conditionally owed to Utah$2,387,834 to $4,775,666Second-round pickYes, own 2027 second$4,775,667 to $7,163,499First and thirdNo, own 2027 first is Boston's$7,163,500 and upMultiple firstsNo

The most Toronto could offer is an AAV just under $4.78 million, which costs only a second-round pick and which Detroit would match without a second thought. Any offer that would actually hurt to match needs a 2027 first the Leafs no longer have. Trading Toronto's own firsts in the Brandon Carlo and Scott Laughton deals has a cost, and this is part of it.

LeafsLurker's take: make the call, but not on Detroit's terms

Chayka should call. Young, left-shot defencemen with size who can play 22 minutes do not ask out very often, and Toronto's blue line is ageing faster than any other part of the roster. The Leafs have about $7 million in LTIR room right now. That is enough to fit him this season, though it shrinks when Max Domi and Dakota Joshua return, so a deal would have to be built with next year's cap in mind. Under the new CBA the seventh year is the most valuable year there is, and Toronto can only give it to him if it trades for him and re-signs him as his own team.

But the price matters more than the player. If Detroit's ask begins with Cowan or McKenna, Toronto should hang up. The Leafs just paid full value in a trade for a winger, and repeating that for a defenceman would leave the roster with nothing young left to build on. A sensible offer is Colorado's 2027 first, Danford and a roster player whose contract Detroit can use. If the Red Wings will not engage on those terms, Toronto loses nothing by staying in touch. Interim front offices tend to hold firm until the new boss arrives, and a permanent general manager may see Edvinsson differently in December than Horcoff can now.

The likeliest outcome is still that Edvinsson signs a bridge deal in Detroit, quite possibly after the Red Wings name a permanent general manager. RFAs who threaten to stay away rarely do. But if this does turn into a bidding war, Toronto should be one of the first teams Detroit hears from, and Chayka should make it clear which of his young players are not for sale.

What's next

The calendar works against Edvinsson. An RFA who is not signed by Dec. 1 cannot play in the NHL this season, so the pressure on both sides grows every week. Watch for three things: whether Detroit names a permanent general manager; whether Friedman or another insider reports that teams have been given permission to talk contract with Edvinsson's camp; and whether Toronto's defence search moves from Josi and Hamilton toward younger targets.