Simon Edvinsson is in the trade spotlight this week, and the Utah Mammoth have reportedly pushed their way to the front of the line.
Frank Seravalli said on Tuesday's FAN Morning Show that other teams are interested, but Utah "seems to be one of those teams that's a frontrunner" right now.
That's a loud name to float in the first week of October. The Red Wings sit at 1-2-0, 26th overall, with all three games played at home.
They did get off the mat last night, beating Ottawa 5-3. But the offense has produced just 7 goals in three games.
Now look at what Utah would be chasing. A 6-foot-6 left-shot defenseman taken sixth overall in the 2021 draft.
He did the AHL work first, putting up 30 points in 54 games with Grand Rapids in 2023-24. Then he stuck.
His best NHL season came in 2024-25, with 31 points in 78 games. The total dipped to 25 last season, which is usually when the phone starts buzzing.
Bill Armstrong's hot start could land a 6-foot-6 defenseman
The Mammoth don't need him for goals. They've scored 17 in four games and sit second overall at 3-1-0.
The interest lives on the back end. Mikhail Sergachev drives the point with 6 points, but Nate Schmidt is 35 and won't be the answer three years from now.
Dmitry Simashev, 21, has opened at a +3. Add a 23-year-old lefty and GM Bill Armstrong suddenly has a blue line that ages alongside Logan Cooley.
That's the pitch from Utah's side. From Detroit's side, it reads like a mistake.
Selling the young defenseman now is like pulling a roast out at the halfway mark because the guests got hungry. You get dinner. You don't get the dinner you waited for.
The Red Wings blue line already skews old. Ben Chiarot is 35, and Justin Faulk is 34, even if Faulk owns the club's only game-winner this season.
Moritz Seider has opened at a -2, and Axel Sandin Pellikka is still looking for his first point. Moving another young piece out of that group thins it in the wrong direction.
So what would make Shawn Horcoff pick up? A top-six forward who scores, because that's the real hole in Todd McLellan's lineup right now.
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The two clubs don't meet until January 7 in Detroit. That's a long runway for a rumor, and the Mammoth have the record to push hard on it.
The Mammoth visit Boston on Thursday. The Red Wings host Seattle on Friday. Somewhere between those games, Horcoff decides whether that phone keeps ringing or finally gets answered.
Should Steve Yzerman trade Simon Edvinsson to Utah if the return is a top-six forward?
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