Film Room: Simon Edvinsson is the Red Wings' next top pairing defenceman

When Simon Edvinsson steps on the ice, he becomes the hub through which Frölunda HC’s offence flows, resembling basketball’s heliocentric superstars or cunning point guards more than any of hockey’s six positions.

2021’s sixth overall pick isn’t just skilled, and he’s not just involved in the play. Edvinsson is endlessly confident. It’s always been a guarantee that when Edvinsson steps on the ice, something will happen. Sometimes bad, but increasingly — and now predominantly — good. Even as the mistakes add up, they don’t deter him from going out the next shift and trying again.

Previously, those mistakes often seemed overwhelming; they appeared like concerns of more-or-less significant decision-making limitations. Perhaps they were more the result of a player with standout tools learning how to maximize them.

That’s reflected in the numbers. Among his team’s defencemen, he sports the third-best shot share while playing the third-most minutes overall, the most at even-strength, and leads them in points per game. His 0.59 point per game clip sits atop the SHL’s under-19, draft-plus-one season scorers for defenders. 

Here’s what drives his success in the SHL.