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Edvinsson Extension Price Going Up
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- Edvinsson Extension Price Going Up
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
After an offseason in which the record for largest contract in NHL history was set and upstaged three times, it's been hard for Red Wings fans to watch as Simon Edvinsson, one of their top defenseman, remains without an extension in place.
While Edvinsson definitely isn't going to be getting anywhere close to the money made by two-time Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar , the new contract signed by Canucks defenseman Zeev Buium has set the water level for any Edvinsson extension in Detroit.
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Inflation
Despite the fact that Buium doesn't even yet have a full 82 game season under his belt, the Vancouver Canucks handed the 20-year-old blueline an eight year, 9.38 million dollar AAV extension to keep him in Canada.
Buium was the centerpiece of the trade from the Wild that the Canucks accepted for Quinn Hughes, who is also in the midst of contract extension talks, which is part of why Vancouver was willing to part with so much cap space. In a rebuilding phase, the team needs to bet on the upside that Buium has shown.
Even if he hasn't quite put the numbers on the stat sheet for the team yet, they're hoping that getting him for eight years, which soon won't be allowed under the NHL 's CBA, will keep their long term future secure.
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For the Red Wings, Edvinsson now finds himself comfortably in a position to be asking for a higher AAV and potentially shorter contract terms. Buium has 76 career NHL games and 26 points split across his rookie season with the Wild and Canucks last year, which is roughly comparable to the 25 points in 72 games Edvinsson had last year in his sophomore season.
That was a downtick from his production as a rookie, though Edvinsson did have to spend time recovering from two separate injuries over the year. However, Edvinsson has shown himself to be much more capable as a defender than Buium has, with a +/- of +12 in each of the last two years, while Buium finished his rookie season as a -24 with the Canucks.
Any way you slice it, for the moment, Edvinsson has the edge on the stat sheet and should be able to leverage that to his full advantage with the Red Wings next GM.
Get what you pay for
It's a matter of when, not if the Red Wings decide to hand the big swede a new contract, and with no GM currently able to negotiate a new contract, the Red Wings are subject to the directions of the winds when it comes to the bargaining table.
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Former GM Steve Yzerman was able to sign top defenseman Mo Seider to a seven year, 8.55 million dollar AAV extension a couple of years ago, and that now looks like a steal. Edvinsson isn't quite the player that Seider is, but the 6-foot-6 Swede has more than proven that he's worth keeping in Detroit.
Keeping Edvinsson happy also provides a lot of flexibility to the d-corps, either as a shutdown top pairing with Seider, or the leader of his own pair on the second line. After starting off his career with two 25+ point seasons, Edvinsson has earned his payday.
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