Month: September 2024

Tweet of note: Michael Brandsegg-Nygard out with a groin injury

Per The Athletic’s Max Bultman:

Update: Here’s more from Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen:

Detroit Red Wings 2024 first-round pick Michael Brandsegg-Nygard isn’t playing today against the Dallas Stars  because of a “slight tweek” of his groin.

Brandsegg-Nygard looked impressive, registering an assist, playing on Detroit’s top line, in a 5-1 win against Dallas Saturday in Game 1 of their two-game prospect series.

“It’s not bad at all, I don’t know what the number scale is, but there’s no sense in risking it with a quick turnaround,” Detroit Director of Player Development Dan Cleary said.

Will Bransdegg-Nygard play in North America this upcoming season, or will he stay with Skelleftea AIK?

“Steve (Yzerman) obviously is ultimately going to make that decision. But to some degree, Michael will also make that decision,” Cleary said. “It’s going to be a great experience for him, either which way, He was in Skelleftea, just prior to coming here. So I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes. Obviously, he’s going to play some preseason games and get a feel. We’re just gonna sit back and watch.”

Brandsegg-Nygard’s game is advanced for someone his age. Norway used him at the World Championships, playing him on a line with NHLer Mats Zuccarello 

“He’s a really strong kid,” Cleary said. ” Obviously, physically, he’s certainly not 18 years old, so he’s fit, he’s in good shape. But the small ice certainly is going to be something that I think he’ll benefit from. He’s got a wicked shot and release timing, and he’s strong enough to win those 50/50 battles to get loose in front. I’m really excited to see him play. I thought he looked real solid yesterday, as did a lot of other guys.”

Tweet of note: Red Wings release lineup for Game 2 vs. Dallas, stream link

Here is the Red Wings’ lineup and today’s stream link for the Prospect Game between Detroit and Dallas at 2:30 PM EDT:

Update: The stream link goes to the app download page. I’ll post the stream link as soon as it’s up.

Update #2:

Prospect round-up: ASP misses Skelleftea’s CHL loss vs. Sheffield; Forslund moves up to Mora’s 2nd line

Of Red Wings prospect-related note:

In the Champions Hockey League, neither Michael Brandsegg-Nygard nor Axel Sandin Pellikka (injury) took part in Skelleftea AIK’s 3-2 loss to the Sheffield Steelers;

And in the Swedish J20 league, Charlie Forslund played on the second line, a promotion from the fourth line, but he registered no points in Mora IK’s 4-1 win over Almtuna.

Tweets of note: Compliments and Walleye baby news

Of Red Wings and Toledo Walleye-related note today:

  1. Let the compliments flow!

2. Congratulations to Brandon Hawkins and family!

Reminder: Detroit plays Dallas in the second Prospect Games affair at 2:30 PM EDT

Per the Red Wings on Twitter:

The game will only stream on DetroitRedWings.com and the Wings’ app. No YouTube or Facebook today.

Tweet of note: the Plymouth gang

Per WXYZ’s Brad Galli:

Jakub Rychlovsky nailed the ‘first impression’

Red Wings free agent signing Jakub Rychlovsky scored a pretty rebound goal in the Wings prospects’ 5-1 win over the Dallas Stars yesterday…

And this morning, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff takes note of Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson’s remarks regarding a player he’s likely to be coaching in West Michigan this fall:

“Yeah, I love his skill,” said Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson, who was handling the Detroit bench. “I love his energy.”

In fact, there really wasn’t an uneventful Rychlovsky shift during the game. The puck just seems to find this guy and then he makes something positive happen once in possession of it. Rychlovsky was skating on left wing on the top line alongside first-round picks Nate Danielson (2023) and Brandsegg-Nygard (2024).

Rychlovsky, 23, was the leading goal scorer in Czech Extraliga last with with 26 tallies for Liberec. The Red Wings knew they were acquiring a guy who could put the biscuit in the basket when they were signing him as a free agent.

What they are discovering in this rookie camp is that his package contains so much more in terms of ingredients.

“One thing that probably went a little unnoticed that we saw is that compete level playing through bodies,” Watson said. “He’s not scared of the physicality. He got through hands. He stole a lot of pucks and he created a lot of turnovers for us.

“You can see he’s got that hunting mentality. He wants the puck, he’s willing to go and get it back. He’s not scared of that work and that compete level. So I liked his game a lot and I’m looking forward to see his development here again.”

Continued; it was just one game of the Red Wings’ two-game Prospect Games slate, so it’s hard to declare Rychlovsky the second coming of the Great European Free Agent Signing just yet…

But first impressions matter, and Rychlovsky appears to have both the scoring skills and a surprising level of North American-level “compete” in him as well.

HSJ in the morning: examining the state of the Wings’ defense

The Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses a main topic for the Red Wings heading into training camp–regardless of whether Jonatan Berggren, Lucas Raymond or Moritz Seider attend this upcoming weekend’s four-day slate of practices and a Red vs. White Game in Traverse City:

Teams generally carry seven defensemen, leaving one in reserve. Last year the Wings barely needed that one: [Moritz] Seider and Shayne Gostisbehere (who left in the summer for the Carolina Hurricanes) each topped 80 games while [Ben] Chiarot, [Jeff] Petry and [Olli] Määttä topped 70. Only Jake Walman (since traded to the San Jose Sharks) had injuries that left him at 63 games. [Justin] Holl, not favored by the coaching staff, appeared in 38 games, and [Simon] Edvinsson spent most of the season in the minors, appearing in 16 NHL games.

Chiarot has paired with Seider on and off the past two seasons, and projects to do so again. [Erik] Gustafsson, a veteran of seven teams with 455 games on his résumé, is likely to get a look on the second pairing. If the Wings wanted a right-handed shot with the left-shooting Swede, the options are Holl or Petry.

Holl will be interesting to watch. Yzerman can’t have anticipated that Holl, signed last summer to a three-year deal worth $3.4 million annually, would spend the majority of the season as a healthy scratch. Higher-ups in the organization weren’t happy about it. While Holl has deficiencies, the 32-year-old plays to his 6-foot-3 frame and posted a respectable plus-8 rating last season. Petry has played in 937 games, but he’ll be 37 in December and isn’t the player he was in his prime.

Määttä, 30, is as serviceable as they come — just goes and plays a consistently simple game, night after night.

Edvinsson is a rangy 6-6 left-handed shot who down the road may develop into partnering with Seider. For now, expectations need to be held in check for a 21-year-old with 25 NHL games under his belt, and starting Edvinsson in the third pairing makes sense, depending how he fares during the preseason.

So where does that leave Johansson? With a great deal to accomplish during exhibition season, when he’ll get plenty of looks in many situations.

Continued (paywall); as far as anyone can tell, the Red Wings will carry eight defensemen, Johansson included, and it’s hard to imagine that Johansson will battle his way past the Red Wings’ current logjam of veteran defensemen out of training camp…

But injuries always strike, and if the Red Wings afford Johansson the chance to “steal a job” on the blueline, he may very well do just that.

Two things: Quotes and observations

Of Red Wings-related note after Detroit’s prospects 5-1 win over the Dallas Stars at the Prospect Games on Saturday:

  1. DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills offered a series of quotes from coach Dan Watson regarding his charges’ performances:

Watson on Brandsegg-Nygard’s passing skills and overall game: “It’s a double threat. He can shoot it and make plays. He made a couple of nice seam plays over to (Nate) Danielson on the power play and couple of nice slip passes on breakouts to support coming through. He’s a smart player who can make those plays. He’s got a good, all-around game and isn’t afraid to use his body.”

Watson on what he hopes to see from Danielson this weekend: “With Nate, a leadership role No. 1. He’s been in this tournament before, so he’s done a really good job so far of keeping the guys in check off the ice.”

Watson on Doucet: “Tonight was a good first impression. Again, what he put in the summertime I think he’s in better shape. We know he can score and know he’s got that energy. Now it’s being consistent with it, and we saw that consistency.”

Watson on Rychlovsky: “I love his skill and his energy. One thing that probably went a little unnoticed was that compete level, playing through bodies. He’s not scared of the physicality.”

2. And the Hockey News’s Connor Eargood made a half-dozen observations, and his fifth one focuses on Rychlovsky:

Rychlovsky Flaunts Deceptive Playmaking, Competitive Drive

The Dallas defense took its eyes off Rychlovsky for less than a second midway through the first period, but that’s all the time he needed. Setting himself up in open ice to the left of Dallas’ goal, Rychlovsky received the puck and stickhandled right up to the net, lacing right through the opponents in front of him. The only thing that stopped him from scoring was a misplaced shot, but the overall effort and vision that went into the goal was downright impressive.

Rychlovksy’s playmaking stood out, but so did his competitive drive. He used his body to make life difficult for the Stars’ prospects, and he put himself right into the mix during puck battles.

“You can see he’s got that hunting mentality,” Watson said. “He wants the puck. He’s willing to go and get it back. He’s not scared of that work and that compete level.”

Much like Brandsegg-Nygard, Rychlovsky is still adjusting to smaller ice. His rebound goal on the power play was a great reward for the way he played all game, and he could be a really intriguing player this season.