Report: Red Wings Firm On Bridge Deal For $10M RFA
"I haven't heard a lot except that I've heard that Detroit's preference is bridge," Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast, adding he wasn't sure Edvinsson is "crazy about a bridge" and that rival teams are starting to circle, wondering what the Red Wings will ultimately do.
A Gap That's Only Grown Since The Summer
The negotiations have dragged for months, complicated early on by Detroit's lack of a permanent general manager following Steve Yzerman's departure.
Edvinsson's agent, J.P. Barry, told Sweden's Expressen last month that talks finally began in earnest once interim GM Shawn Horcoff had the authority to negotiate.
Chris Johnston previously reported that a long-term deal for Edvinsson was expected to cost more than $10 million annually, a number that would push him past Moritz Seider's $8.55 million cap hit and make him the highest-paid player on Detroit's roster.
Per Elliotte Friedman:
— Winged Wheel Podcast (@WingedWheelPod) September 25, 2026
- Larkin's trade list has more teams now than has been reported; thinks it's ~8 teams & includes COL, WSH, DAL, TBL, etc. (only U.S. teams)
- Heard that Detroit's preference is a bridge contract for Simon Edvinsson #LGRW
The market has only made that number look more reasonable since. Chicago's Bowen Byram set a new bar for young defensemen at six years and $12.5 million annually, while both Pavel Mintyukov and Simon Nemec signed shorter deals north of $7.2 million.
The Hockey Beast's Max Bultman argued Detroit's hesitation makes little sense given its cap situation. "It's unfathomable how that could be the case for a team currently more than $20 million under the cap, and with most of its other core players locked up for the intermediate future," Bultman wrote, adding that a bridge deal "will look like a mistake for Detroit from the moment it's signed."
Friedman's column also flagged the pressure piling up on Horcoff, with Edvinsson's contract sitting alongside Dylan Larkin's unresolved trade request and pending UFA Alex DeBrincat as three significant pieces of business the interim GM still has to sort out.
Edvinsson, the sixth overall pick in 2021, posted nine goals and 25 points in 72 games last season while averaging over 22 minutes a night, production that's made his camp confident in pushing for term rather than accepting a shorter bridge.
