After the Detroit Red Wings’ prospects split their two-game series against the Dallas Stars’ prospects this past weekend, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff asked Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson about Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s adjustment period to North American hockey:
“I don’t think there’s going to be a long transition period for him to get used to how to play here in North America,” Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson said.
Could it happen fast enough for Brandsegg-Nygard to open the NHL season in Detroit? Maybe. It’s not like such an outcome would be unprecedented.
In 2022, another big forward, Elmer Soderblom, grabbed a spot off a strong preseason showing. The year before, Lucas Raymond did likewise and never looked back.
Even if he doesn’t break camp with the big club, Brandsegg-Nygard could show the Red Wings he’s ready by dominating in the AHL. That’s what got Marco Kasper quickly promoted last season.
A clear asset in Brandsegg-Nygard’s toolkit is that what he brings to the ice is a quality that the Red Wings don’t possess in quantity. He plays a hard, heavy game. He’ll go into traffic and barge into the corners with a determined ferocity.
“I think one thing is we can see he’s a competitor,” Watson said. “He’s winning a lot of 50-50 battles with a stick, with his body. He’s a physical player. He gets right in there.”
Continued; Duff notes that Brandsegg-Nygard himself believes that he’s well-adapted to playing bump-and-grind, north-south hockey:
“I feel like it’s more physical over here, and I like to be the physical player of the game, so I’m trying to do that,” Brandsegg-Nygard said. “And, I mean, I like that it’s always going north every time, so we get like skating toward the O zone. And I do not like to play in the D zone. So it’s fun to, like, just get it up right away. And yeah, I mean, hockey is hockey.”
