Hurricanes Linked To Red Wings' Simon Edvinsson
Per Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast, the defending Stanley Cup champions have shown interest in Detroit Red Wings blueliner Simon Edvinsson, a restricted free agent.
"The other player that I heard in conjunction with them was Simon Edvinsson from the Red Wings," Friedman said. "He's a really good player, and if they lose Nikishin, they're gonna need a defenseman, right? And I think Edvinsson would be excellent for their system. So, I've kind of wondered if they're eyeing him up and down, too."
The Nikishin Connection
The interest is tied directly to Carolina's own restricted free agent situation.
The Hurricanes are trying to sort out a new deal with Alexander Nikishin, and Friedman and other insiders have reported that Nikishin's camp turned down a "Jackson Blake type deal" worth around $5.1 million annually.
the beauty of the simon edvinsson ot goal https://t.co/oiXSvTl0Dw pic.twitter.com/SpA7g4bCZu
— zee (@ekyism) July 8, 2026
If Carolina loses Nikishin, Edvinsson becomes a logical replacement.
Friedman noted the Hurricanes are looking to be creative in the offer-sheet market, the same discussion in which he mentioned Carolina's interest in Anaheim's Leo Carlsson before the Flyers landed him.
The Offer-Sheet Math
An Edvinsson offer sheet would be complicated and expensive.
Detroit tendered him a qualifying offer and retains his RFA rights, but he remains eligible to sign an offer sheet from another club.
The Red Wings have roughly $18.7 million in projected cap space, giving Steve Yzerman more than enough room to match an offer in the $8 million to $10 million range.
“ I do think the threat of an offer sheet for Simon Edvinsson by the way is quite real.”
— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) July 10, 2026
🎥@thesheethockey pic.twitter.com/tYgiE7OHHm
To pry Edvinsson away, Carolina would likely need to push the deal north of $10 million annually, which under the NHL's compensation rules would cost multiple first-round picks, potentially as many as four.
That means it would more likely be negotiating pressure than a likely path to Edvinsson actually changing teams.
The Player
It is easy to see why Carolina covets him.
Edvinsson, 23, was the sixth overall pick in the 2021 draft and has developed into one of Detroit's most important defensemen, trailing only Moritz Seider on the back end.
The 6-foot-6 Swede set a career high with nine goals while adding 16 assists across 72 games this past season and has averaged 21:09 of ice time over 175 career games with a plus-17 rating.
His skating, size, puck-moving, and physical edge fit exactly what Carolina looks for on the blue line.
The obstacle is that Detroit has no comparable left-shot replacement and would almost certainly match, making this a situation to monitor rather than something on the verge of happening.
