Red Wings Must Sign Edvinsson Before Any Dylan Larkin Trade

The Detroit Red Wings have spent most of October managing two stars who would rather be somewhere else. Dylan Larkin requested a trade in June, and Simon Edvinsson remains unsigned as a restricted free agent. Both situations have dominated the conversation in Hockeytown, but they do not carry the same urgency, and Detroit shouldn’t treat them as one problem.

The order matters. Before interim general manager Shawn Horcoff makes any move involving Larkin, the Red Wings need to settle Edvinsson’s future first.

Edvinsson and Larkin Face Two Different Clocks

The difference starts with the calendar. As a restricted free agent, Edvinsson must sign an NHL contract by Dec. 1 to be eligible to play in the league this season. That deadline applies whether he signs with Detroit or is traded and signs somewhere else.

Dylan Larkin has no such clock. He is under contract through 2030-31 at an $8.7 million cap hit, and his list now includes 10 teams. Detroit can trade him in November, at the deadline, or next summer without losing any of his value to the calendar.

The pressure also became more visible on Oct. 25, when the Carolina Hurricanes signed Alexander Nikishin to a 1-year, $3 million deal to end his own restricted free agent standoff. With that resolved, Edvinsson’s situation is now one of the most closely watched contract stalemates in the league.

Where Things Stand With Edvinsson

The 23-year-old’s position has been clear for weeks. On Oct. 3, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on Saturday Headlines on Sportsnet that Edvinsson would prefer a trade, while Detroit was telling teams it still preferred to sign him.

The club’s public stance hasn’t changed. Horcoff has said the Red Wings want to sign the defenseman and have no interest in trading him, as our latest Red Wings week ahead noted. That position makes sense. We already argued that Detroit would be foolish to trade Simon Edvinsson, and nothing since then has weakened that case.

Why Edvinsson Has to Come First

The age gap tells most of the story. Simon Edvinsson was the sixth-overall pick in the 2021 Draft, and he played 72 games last season with nine goals, 25 points, and more than 22 minutes per night. He is entering the prime of his career just as Detroit’s young core is taking shape.

Larkin is 30. He is still a productive top-line center, but any trade involving him is a bet on the next five or six years. Edvinsson is a big part of what those years should look like, and losing both players in the same season would leave Detroit rebuilding two key positions at once.

The Cap Picture Depends on Him

Detroit has plenty of room to make this work. The Red Wings had about $16.8 million in projected space as of Oct. 8, according to PucksandStats’ cap projections, which gives them far more flexibility than most of Larkin’s potential suitors.

That space is not unlimited, though. Any Larkin trade with a capped-out contender likely means taking salary back, and Edvinsson’s next contract will set a major part of the long-term payroll. Moritz Seider, Detroit’s other cornerstone defenseman, carries an $8.55 million cap hit on the 7-year deal he signed in 2024. Knowing what the young defenseman costs first gives Horcoff a clear picture of how much salary he can absorb in a trade for the former captain.

The Larkin Return Changes Once Edvinsson Is Signed

Sequencing also affects what Detroit should ask for in return. On Oct. 22, Friedman reported that the Red Wings have started to ask about young centres in trade talks, although he couldn’t confirm whether those talks involve Larkin, Edvinsson, or both.

If Edvinsson signs, Detroit can focus a Larkin trade entirely on replacing a center. If he doesn’t, the club may need to use the same negotiations to address both a hole down the middle and a hole on the blue line. That is a much harder deal to build, especially with teams like the Minnesota Wild already pressed against the cap, a challenge we covered in our look at why the Red Wings need more than Yurov for their former captain.

Detroit Can’t Afford to Get the Order Wrong

The Red Wings are competing again, sitting at 5-4-3 after a shootout win in Edmonton on Oct. 26. That gives them a reason to be patient with Larkin, who has kept producing for a competitive team while his future is sorted out.

Edvinsson doesn’t offer that luxury. The Dec. 1 deadline is fixed, and every week without a deal narrows Detroit’s options. Resolve the young defenseman’s contract first, then turn to Larkin with a full understanding of the cap and the roster. Doing it the other way around risks losing both players on Detroit’s worst possible terms.