Bleacher Report’s Hannah Stuart ranked the NHL’s 32 teams’ prospect pools, and the Red Wings predictably land in the middle of the league’s rankings due to their “lack of star power”:
15. Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings are one of a few prospect pools on this list that can be described as quite deep but without any truly star-potential prospects (at least, who count as prospects anymore) which frankly is fine. A deep pool means both assets to build out your roster and assets to deal to get those star-quality guys.
Now that Simon Edvinsson doesn’t count as a prospect anymore, the top guy in the Wings’ system is Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, who feels like he was destined to be a Red Wings pick. European winger who is relentless on the forecheck—sound familiar? Although he has a bit of a development ramp ahead of him before he makes the NHL, there’s so much to like about Brandsegg-Nygård’s game. To name a few: his tenacity, his physicality, great release and high-end skating ability.
Other Red Wings prospects to watch:
- Axel Sandin-Pellikka: Sandin-Pellikka is the best defenseman in the pool and one that I love watching. He’s highly skilled across the board and is developing quite a nice play-driving ability, which we know Steve Yzerman and company love to see. He’s as effective without the puck as he is with it.
- Nate Danielson: The WHL center had a slow start last season with the Portland Winterhawks, but his solid skating skills and the way carries the puck in transition have us hesitant to push him down our list just yet. We’ll be watching whether he works on improving his playmaking ability this year.
- Marco Kasper: Kasper is an effective middle or bottom-six center who brings a lot of value in how effective he is away from the puck. His physicality and skating are high end, and combined with his work ethic drive his ability to support his teammates. We would love to see him further develop the playmaking aspect of his game.
Continued; Danielson had a slow start to last season with the Brandon Wheat Kings. When he was traded to the Portland Winterhawks, his production ramped up.
