Report: Edvinsson Prefers Trade Out of Detroit; Cossa Wins NHL Debut
The short version
- Elliotte Friedman reports Simon Edvinsson, unsigned after camp and back in Sweden, would prefer a trade from Detroit; the team and his agent declined comment.
- Detroit is filling Edvinsson's spot with Albert Johansson, the smallest of its remaining Swedish defensemen.
- The Red Wings were shut out in their home opener; Larkin is injured and Kasper was hurt after a strong first game.
- Sebastian Cossa won his first NHL start with Utah, 4-1 over Columbus, stopping 17 of 18 shots.
- Detroit traded Cossa for the 2026 first-rounder used on JP Hurlbert, who scored Michigan's first goal of the season Oct. 2.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman says the unsigned Swedish defenseman has grown frustrated with Detroit, which was shut out in its home opener and is missing Larkin and Kasper.
Defenseman Simon Edvinsson would prefer a move away from the Detroit Red Wings, according to Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman. Edvinsson returned to Sweden after he and the club could not reach a new contract coming out of training camp, and Friedman's reporting indicates the defenseman is now angling for a destination other than Detroit.
Friedman added a caveat: neither the Red Wings nor Edvinsson's agent would comment on the situation. The sense he picked up from other teams around the NHL, however, is that the Swedish blueliner has grown frustrated with the organization.
For now, Detroit is covering the vacancy with Albert Johansson, whom the outlet describes as the smallest of the team's remaining Swedish defensemen. The report frames a potential departure as significant, casting Edvinsson as a shutdown-pairing defenseman with 25-plus-point production whose absence would put the club at a disadvantage on a nightly basis.
The uncertainty arrives during a difficult opening stretch. Detroit was blanked in its home opener, and head coach Todd McLellan is counting on a more physical, harder-checking approach to help the team establish possession in the offensive zone, though the group still needs to find ways to generate shots on goal. McLellan has also struck a pragmatic tone, stressing that he must work with the roster currently at his disposal.
The Edvinsson question is one of several unwelcome developments for Detroit fans. Captain Dylan Larkin is injured and, by Bob Duff's account, heard boos from the opening-night home crowd, while Marco Kasper, who stood out as the team's brightest performer in the first game, has since been hurt as well, with additional details on his condition surfacing in follow-up coverage.
Elsewhere in the organization's orbit, former Detroit first-round pick and Grand Rapids Griffins goaltender Sebastian Cossa made his first NHL start for the Utah Mammoth and backstopped a 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, stopping 17 of the 18 shots he faced. "It was great," Cossa said in remarks shared by the team. "Obviously, first game here and I wanted to get off to a good start, and the team played really well in front of me, so it was pretty easy for me tonight."
Cossa's debut traces back to the trade that sent him from Detroit to Utah for a first-round pick in the 2026 draft. The Red Wings used that selection on forward JP Hurlbert, who opened his college season Oct. 2 by scoring the University of Michigan's first goal of the year in his debut.
Around the NHL, Andrei Kuzmenko has rejoined the Pittsburgh Penguins after traveling to Siberia following the death of his father. The New Jersey Devils dropped a 6-0 decision to the New York Islanders, Gabe Landeskog skated in his 800th game for the Colorado Avalanche, and the Florida Panthers have lost Sasha Barkov to long-term injured reserve.
Detroit's next assignment on the schedule is a home game against the Winnipeg Jets, a matchup the club will enter with its defensive picture still unsettled.
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