New Report: Edvinsson ‘Wants to be left alone’, Red Wings ‘Have gauged his market’

On the weekend, insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that Detroit Red Wings unsigned RFA defenseman Simon Edvinsson 'prefered' a trade at this point. On Monday morning, Friedman said a lot more of what's going on 'under the hood' in the Motor City. And it doesn't sound good.

Edvinsson, as we know, came to Red Wings' camp on a PTO as a goodwill gesture, so to speak, believing that a new contract would be done for him, with Shawn Horcoff taking over as interim general manager. But as Friedman reports on 32 Thoughts, things went awry as the young, star blueliner still didn't have a deal when camp was over. 

When it didn't get done, I heard he was pretty mad. He went back to Sweden, and I heard, he just made it clear that he kind of wanted to be left alone for a bit and had had enough that it's taken this long. It's not just the fact that it didn't get done during training camp. It didn't get done all summer. He's been eligible for an extension for the last, what, 15 months? I think he's just fed up.

He is a really, really frustrated guy.

Friedman also says that the Red Wings, although they still maintain that they want to sign Edvinsson, have now started to "gauge the market.

"Who's interested, what the price would be, and what they could get in return. When you're in that chair, even on an interim basis like Shawn Horcoff is, you have to know this. And I believe he's been doing his research." 

At the same time, Detroit has begun to make concessions on their end, as they continue to try to figure out a way to sign the young, star D-man. Friedman says they've moved off of their insistence on a bridge contract, and have made longer-term offers. 

According to David Pagnotta, the Wings have pitched a six-year, $8.5M AAV deal. The Swedish D-man, however, is looking for something closer to $11M AAV, the insider reports. 

Edvinsson, 23, is a 6'6" left-shot defenseman who has established himself as a top-pairing guy. He recorded 25 points last season, while posting a +12 rating and over 140 blocked shots, all for the second consecutive year. 

We've looked at four teams that would make sense for him on the trade market.