Simon Edvinsson carrying NHL confidence into AHL playoffs

The Red Wings defender is a series-changing piece for the Grand Rapids Griffins.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Simon Edvinsson never had his exit interview with the Detroit Red Wings.

After Detroit’s regular-season ended in dramatic fashion against the Montreal Canadiens, the defenseman packed up and drove back to Grand Rapids to join the Griffins for the remainder of the AHL season and the playoffs.

So with the Griffins about to open the AHL playoffs on Saturday against the Rockford IceHogs, I drove out to Western Michigan on Friday to catch up with Red Wings defender about his season.

Edvinsson split his season between the NHL and AHL, playing 54 games with Grand Rapids and 16 with Detroit. Down the stretch, as the Red Wings pushed for the final playoff spot and came up short, Edvinsson became an everyday NHL player and appeared in the Red Wings final 14 games.

In those games Edvinsson averaged just over 18 minutes per game, and while he dealt with some learning curves, he helped stabilize some of the issues that had cropped up with the Detroit defense.

He’ll be a full-time Red Wing next season, for now he’s playing out the stretch in potentially the final AHL games of his career.

And in the AHL, Edvinsson is a bona fide No. 1 defender. In his first two games back from Detroit, he played 23:03 and 25:03. In the regular season finale against the Milwaukee Admirals, a 2-1 Griffins victory, Edvinsson was on the ice for a plus-13 differential in shot attempts.

Grand Rapids coach Dan Watson said he saw obvious poise with Edvinsson in those two games. Confidence from a successful NHL stint certainly didn’t hurt.

“Every game up there (with Detroit) was like a playoff game after I was called up,” Edvinsson said. “Everybody wanted to go to playoffs, we really thought we had it … it was unreal feeling, that last game at Little Caesars (Arena) was amazing, I thought we were in until we heard the news (about the Washington Capitals win).

“You know, I’ve tried to see the positive out of it for me, I get to come back next year stronger and get a chance to actually make the (NHL) playoffs, and now I get to bring that energy here and just try to build it for next season.”

Edvinsson, who also played nine NHL games the prior season, said he’s taken major personal strides in his game.

“I’ve matured on the ice, last year it was a bit of a shock and I don’t think I ever really got used to everything (in the NHL),” Edvinsson said. “I feel like the more I played, the more I felt like myself and this season I grew my game stronger offensively and defensively. There are a few things that I can do different, like I know what I have to do to take a bigger role next year.”

Edvinsson said he drew confidence from how the Red Wings coaches used him against top lines, particularly when the defensive depth was hurt at the end of the season with Jake Walman’s ailments.

From an AHL playoff perspective, having Edvinsson back in Grand Rapids alters series predictions. He’s going to play with Albert Johansson in Game 1, a potential preview for a future NHL pairing, and he’s going to play close to 25 minutes.

With the Griffins additions from Detroit, the series in my mind goes from Rockford being favored to Grand Rapids being a slight favorite.

Watson doesn’t deal with predictions, he only coaches his team. But he agreed that Edvinsson’s experience in the NHL level will have a larger impact.

“So I just think for the for our guys inside that room, he’s already playing a really, really high level,” Watson said. “So I think for us, it's going to pay dividends, it's going to make sure that our guys are on the same page in terms of how hard it's going to be.”

---

I’ll have more from my trip to Grand Rapids this weekend. I also spoke to Johansson and Shai Buium for separate stories, which will run at this site for paid subscribers.

As always, let me know what you want to read about by either leaving comments or responding to the email.

Happy Friday.