Red Wings prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygard turns 20 on October 5th, just before the Wings’ home opener, and MBN will probably begin his North American sojourn in Grand Rapids of the AHL.
That being said, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a subscriber-only article in which he questions whether Brandsegg-Nygard could use strong training camp and exhibition performances to propel Brandsegg-Nygard on to the Red Wings’ roster:
He decided to summer in North America, partially at the urging of Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman.
“He said it will be an important summer and that anything can happen,” Brandsegg-Nygard told Norwegian website Nitten.no. “If I continue, train hard, and do what I have to do, it is not impossible (he could make the NHL roster). I will do everything I can. Of course it’s the dream. This is what I’ve worked for my whole life. It would be incredibly cool.”
At 6-foot-1, 202 pounds, the right-shot right-winger is built for the NHL. Or is it the NHL style that was built to suit him?
“It’s a game I like to play,” Brandsegg-Nygard said. “Tight hockey and physical hockey with a lot of power. So, I mean, that’s a game I want to play.”
He’s also the big body, physical presence that the Red Wings are desperately seeking to add more of to their equation.
Certainly, Brandsegg-Nygard wants to crack the Red Wings roster out of training camp in the fall, so he allows himself to engage in that vision quest.
“Of course,” Brandsegg-Nygard admitted. “I mean, that’s my dream and my goal, to make the team. So we see what happens. But I mean, I’m happy with GR, too. So I’m just seeing what happens. I’m just gonna do my best to hopefully make the team one day.”
Continued (paywall); anything can happen over the course of training camp and the exhibition season, but it’s going to take an exceptional performance and the supplanting of a top-nine forward for Brandsegg-Nygard to make the Wings’ roster.
He and Axel Sandin Pellikka will be given every opportunity to impress, but they’re headed to Grand Rapids unless they are truly extraordinary come late September.
