Whatever is ailing Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson, it must be more than a 24-hour bug.
Edvinssson missed Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets due to illness. With the club slated to travel to New Jersey later on Sunday for Monday’s road game against the Devils, the Red Wings are summoning defenseman Erik Gustafsson from the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins as an insurance policy to take on the trip.
“Simon was sick,” was Detroit coach Todd McLellan’s medical assessment of the situation.
UPDATE: The #RedWings have recalled Erik Gustafsson from the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.
Additionally, Elmer Soderblom has been placed on Injured Reserve retroactive to November 9th. pic.twitter.com/QdDnqUOWs0
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) November 23, 2025
Gustafsson, 33, is a 15-year veteran who spent the entire last season with the Red Wings. He had two goals and 18 points in 60 games, but was minus-19.
Gustafsson lost his NHL spot when the Red Wings elected to keep rookie defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka on the NHL roster out of training camp. The veteran Swedish blueliner was sent down to the Griffins after clearing NHL waivers.
In 10 games for Grand Rapids, Gustafsson has eight assists and a plus-seven rating. It’s the first time he’s seen AHL action since the 2017-18 season with the Rockford IceHogs.
“It’s been tough,” Gustafsson told Swedish website Expressen. “It came as a shock.”
Gustafsson Unlikely To Play For Red Wings
Among AHL defensemen, Gustafsson is tied for 14th in both assists and plus-minus rating. He’s seeking to make the best out of his first minor-league stint in a decade.
“If I go here and sulk, it won’t be good for me, and it won’t be good for the team,” Gustafsson said.
During his professional career, he has competed in 515 NHL games since the 2015-16 season, after being selected with the 93rd overall pick by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. In his NHL career, Gustafsson has notched 240 points (47-193-240) and 163 penalty minutes in 515 regular-season games, adding 12 points (2-10-12) and 10 penalty minutes in 49 Stanley Cup playoff outings.
Gustafsson is unlikely to see any action while up with the Red Wings. Detroit coach Todd McLellan inserted Jacob Bernard-Docker into Edvinsson’s spot in the lineup. Coaches aren’t prone to breaking up winning combinations. Besides, he expressed happiness with Bernard Docker’s performance.
“It’s been a bit of a ping pong match with his insertion into the lineup,” McLellan said. “He’s in and then he’s out and he’s in and he’s out.
“I talked to him in practice the other day about when you go back in, here’s the things we need you to do. And he did them. He did them well.”
In a related move, the Red Wings placed injured forward Elmer Soderblom on IR to open up a roster spot for Gustafsson.