Brandsegg-Nygard and Buchelnikov’s highlight clips are fantastic. They’re also just the beginning (we hope).

IceHockeyGifs on Twitter posted Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s busy late-August travel schedule, per Norran.se:

Michael Brandsegg-Nygård's preseason travel schedule:

✅Sweden (Skellefteå preseason games*2)
🔜Denmark (Team Norway Olympic Qualifiers*3)
➡️Germany (Skellefteå CHL games*2)
➡️Traverse City (Red Wings Training Camp)

🟰 Sweden? Grand Rapids? Detroit? https://t.co/SxiZApGaAS

— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) August 22, 2024

So that’s two more preseason games for Skelleftea AIK, a couple of games for Norway’s Olympic Qualifying team from August 29th to 31st,two CHL games played for Skelleftea on September 6th and 8th, and then he’s off to the Red Wings’ prospect tournament and main training camp.

After that, however?

Well, it’s rant, incoming!

Despite MBN’s scoring of two pretty preseason goals in two games, as well as some bump-and-grind acumen…

I’m sorry, but I’m just not ready to deem Brandsegg-Nygard the next Swede to “make the jump” as an 18-year-old graduating from the Allsvenskan to the SHL (and MBN turns 19 in October).

Brandsegg-Nygard himself has stated repeatedly that he believes that he’s going to play for Skelleftea this upcoming season. While I appreciate the hype train getting rolling for the 6’1,” 207-pound budding power forward, he also needs to be given some air to breathe here.

It’s August 22nd. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Dmitri Buchelnikov have looked really good in preseason action. MBN is graduating from the Swedish second division to the men’s pro league, however, and Buchelnikov appears to be getting regular playing time after a more limited role with the Admiral Vladivostok last year.

I’m as enthusiastic about prospect potential as anybody on the internet, but we need to take some deep breaths. It’s incredibly early, these gents are playing big roles in preseason games, and that’s great.

That’s also where we’re at right now.

The beauty of the game is that Brandsegg-Nygard, Buchelnikov and the rest of the Red Wings’ prospects will fight for ice time and regular roles on their Skelleftea AIK and Vityaz Moscow Region, respectively, as their teams’ regular seasons begin in September, and they’ll take off from their respective launch pads there and then.

Showing my age as your grumpy internet hockey uncle, everybody Wang Chung tonight. Everybody have fun tonight. But take with a couple grains of good, old-fashioned Detroit-mined Morton road salt.

We are absolutely blessed to have IceHockeyGifs and Red Wings Prospects on Twitter following the Wings’ collective of European-playing prospects, and especially the Swedes.

At the same time, we’ve got to be able to work the gas and the brake pedals as necessary here.

I’m frickin’ delighted to see MBN provide some instant, “See? That’s why the Wings drafted him where they did!” results. It’s fantastic that Buchelnikov is dekeing and dangling like a star player as the KHL’s grueling, month-long preseason reaches its merciful end (the KHL’s regular season begins on September 3rd).

ICYM Goals from Yesterday:
•Dimitri Buchelnikov(2nd round’22)
•Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (1st round’24)
•Charlie Forslund(6th round’24)#LGRW pic.twitter.com/Tmf6OKg7Cc

— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) August 22, 2024

It’s just still early, and these are the kinds of plays that we want to see Brandsegg-Nygard making in January, when he’s been riding the bus and the plane through 40 SHL games played against men at the highest level.

These are the kinds of plays we want to see Buchelnikov make when he’s shaking off the jet lag from trips across Russia’s eleven time zones and that 5’10,” 170-pound frame is working through the KHL bump-and-grind.

These could be the starts of some beautiful seasons for both players. If that’s the case, we’ll see the Wings’ urgency to bring Brandsegg-Nygard over for games with Grand Rapids when the SHL season ends, and even more urgency to get Buchelnikov the hell out of Russia.

Until then, I’m loving seeing the highlight clips, and I’m taking them with some skepticism.

Let the regular seasons commence in a couple of weeks. Let MBN get some action in training camp, and perhaps the NHL exhibition season, before heading back to Sweden.

And take some deep breaths. This is just the start, literally and figuratively.