Detroit Red Wings prospect Simon Edvinsson has gone down a path many in his shoes opted against. He decided to play in this year's IIHF World Juniors tournament.

Under normal circumstances, this isn't abnormal. The World Juniors are the biggest hockey tournament for NHL hopefuls. Many of the game's top prospects play in the tournament year in and year out.

However, this year's tournament had to be rescheduled from December to August. This gave players like Edvinsson a dilemma: he could either prepare for Red Wings training camp, or play in the World Juniors.

The Red Wings prospect opted for the World Juniors. And he recently revealed that he spoke with the team prior to the tournament about his decision.

“I talked to Detroit about it, we had a conversation, and everything went good,” Edvinsson told Steven Ellis of The Hockey News. “I'm focused on this tournament now and after that, I'll go back to Detroit.”

The Red Wings prospect said he is eager to partake in NHL training camp, but his focus is on the task at hand. “I'm hungry for (training camp), but right now we need to win this,” he said.

The Red Wings will look vastly different this upcoming season, with fresh faces entering the fold. Edvinsson projects to be among those fresh faces when the season begins in October.

The Red Wings prospect has impressed at the tournament, drawing praise from head coach Tomas Montén.

“He's a unique talent,” Montén said. “I think it's his size and how he moves, that's what first comes to mind. He's big and can skate and can handle the puck. Usually, those size defensemen are more like stay-at-home D and just rim it off the glass and things like that. Not him… He's an '03, he has some experience, but he's always cool. I think it's a strength.”

The Red Wings seem to have a dynamic 1-2 punch on the blueline in the form of Edvinsson and Calder Trophy winner Moritz Seider. The two defensemen should provide stability to Detroit's defense for many years.