Month: October 2025

Finnie, Brandsegg-Nygard and Sandin Pellikka won’t be alone as they go off to the races tomorrow night

As it appears that Emmitt Finnie, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Axel Sandin Pellikka are going to make their NHL debuts tomorrow evening, MLive’s Ansar Khan asked both the rookies’ Red Wings teammates (in Andrew Copp, Patrick Kane and Moritz Seider) and coach Todd McLellan what they might say to the young players:

“They will make mistakes, but we have 15 other guys to kind of help them and make them comfortable,” Seider said. “And it’s just about how fast they can kind of adjust to the NHL speed. Obviously, exhibition season is a little different than the regular season and now it’s up to us to kind of push him into the games and try to just establish a culture where they feel very comfortable and ready to go.”

The message to the kids from coach Todd McLellan is to be prepared for a significant upgrade in intensity.

“There’ll be some casual conversations, but I won’t bring all three of them in and say, ‘Hey, guys, it’s going to get really fast and intense. But I know that the players around them have reminded them or prepared them for that,” McLellan said. “I don’t want them wound up. They’re going to have enough nerves and I want them to play a little loose, a little free. Their palms will be sweaty. They should be. Mine will be. But I want them to play free and not overburden them.”

Said Seider: “If you say you’re not nervous, then maybe something’s wrong with you. I was at least (in his NHL debut), and that’s a good thing. Try to build it into adrenaline and hopefully your legs will take you a little bit further.”

The players themselves are more nervous about their surroundings than their debuts right now:

“When they just come up and talk to me, it makes me more comfortable with being here,” Brandsegg-Nygard said. “Just to be around here can be a little nervous sometimes. And every time they just come up to you and just talk to you, it’s nice.”

Said Sandin-Pellikka: “Since Day One of camp, I feel like everyone’s talkative, everyone’s getting into the group in some sort of way. It’s comforting as a young guy coming in here. I wasn’t that nervous, but you know, there’s still some nerves coming into a whole new team, whole new locker room, new guys.”

Continued (paywall)

Videos: Seider, Copp, McLellan speak with the media on Wednesday

The Detroit Red Wings practiced at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center with no changes to their lineup on Wednesday, and coach Todd McLellan confirmed that John Gibson will start against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday evening when he spoke with the media after practice.

The Red Wings posted a video of Moritz Seider, Andrew Copp and coach McLellan speaking with the media today…

Also: The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a non-embeddable clip of Seider, Copp and coach McLellan speaking with the media about coach McLellan’s pluses and the season-opening game vs. Montreal, as well as a clip of Copp, Patrick Kane and Seider discussing their expectations for the upcoming season.

In the audio department, St. James herself gave an interview to WDET 101.9 FM, too.

Red Wings feel ‘antsy’ ahead of home opener; Seider discusses earning an ‘A’

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills spoke with the Red Wings’ players and coach about their anticipation for getting the 2025-2026 season underway…

“I think we’re antsy,” McLellan said after Wednesday’s practice. “You should never say this, but I think the guys are sick and tired of practicing after Training Camp and everything. They want to get going, and we do as well. We need some evidence now. We need to catch them doing things right and wrong. Where do we need to take our game? What do we need to work on? They need to experience the intensity of a real game. There’s no doubt about it.”

It’s been a day-after-day building process up to this point for the Red Wings, starting with Training Camp in mid-September then a busy eight-game exhibition schedule. And when the puck finally drops on Opening Night, goalie John Gibson said it’s going to be about carrying everything they’ve been emphasizing this fall into their play on the ice.

“We just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing, making sure everything is ready to go and that we’re firing on all cylinders,” goalie John Gibson said. “You want to get off to a hot start and hit the ground running.”

And he spoke with Moritz Seider about wearing an alternate captain’s “A” on his jersey…

In news coming out of Tuesday’s practice, McLellan announced the appointment of Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider as alternate captains of the Red Wings for the upcoming season.

“It’s a huge honor,” Seider said. “Obviously, it comes with a little bit of responsibility. We have great leaders in our locker room. Very honored and proud, but we aren’t the only guys here. We have a great team behind us, and I’m just proud that we’re in a locker room with a lot of great leaders. We have that shared responsibility.”

And Mills received an update on James van Riemsdyk’s status as well:

“Closer and looking better,” McLellan said about van Riemsdyk’s return timetable. “Certainly, he’s not going to play [on Thursday], but we play Saturday. I think that would be a good option for him if everything goes well. Getting updates from our training staff about him physically, but also from our sports science department that monitors his workload and all that type of stuff. He’s starting to push numbers that are realistic for game situations.”

Allen: coach McLellan expects players without letters on their jerseys to help Seider, Raymond lead

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen took note of Red Wings coach Todd McLellan’s take on his new alternate captains’ statuses as part of a larger leadership group:

Todd McLellan has learned on his coaching journey that leadership is not always spelled out by the letters sewn onto players’ jerseys.

“Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby, they didn’t wear A’s,” said McLellan who was assistant coach with the Red Wings back then. “But they led. And that’s what we’re going with.”

On the day Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond were named permanent alternate captains, McLellan made it clear that his hope, perhaps his expectation, is that every player sees himself as a leader. The NHL tradition is to celebrate the idea that winning is always a collective process. This a sport that believes role players contribute mightily.

When McLellan was asked how he saw his leadership group, he said: “It will be 23 men.”

While McLellan respects and likes the NHL tradition of a captain and two alternates, he finds success comes more frequently when everyone is involved.

He said coaches always have a difficult time limiting the leadership group. “Inevitably, you just keep (thinking)… Well, we can’t leave him out. So you add another guy in, and pretty soon three quarters of your team is in the leadership group.”

Continued

Roughly translated: Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s parents are coming to Detroit for their son’s debut

Red Wings rookie Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s family is en route to Detroit at the present moment, according to TV2.no’s Erlend Boren Kristofferson and Jonas Barias:

Got the dream news on Instagram: A shock!

During a phone call, a father suddenly discovered that his son’s greatest wish had come true.

“It was absolutely sick. I was a little speechless, and I thought: ‘Is this happening?'”

It is 4:35 a.m.

Carmen Brandsegg-Nygård stands excitedly in the departure hall at Oslo Airport with her mom and dad.

They have begun to believe that it is actually true. Now the family has scrambled to catch a plane to the United States – where her brother, and their son, will soon do what he has dreamed of his whole life.

“I have to admit that I feel pride. It’s hard,” says his father, Kjell Richard “Ricky” Nygård.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s parents are coming to Detroit for their son’s debut

Mid-day Red Wings mash-up: Jersey sales, McLellan interview highlights, playoff predictions and power rankings

Of mid-day Red Wings-related note:

  1. This does not surprise me:

2. If you missed Red Wings coach Todd McLellan’s interview with 97.1 the Ticket this morning, Will Burchfield offered some highlights from the interview:

Continue reading Mid-day Red Wings mash-up: Jersey sales, McLellan interview highlights, playoff predictions and power rankings

Post-practice Tweets: Gibson to start vs. Habs; 3rd D-pair in flux; JvR may be ready Saturday vs. Toronto

The Detroit Red Wings offered no lineup changes when they practiced on Wednesday, with tomorrow might’s home opener vs. the Montreal Candiens (7 PM EDT start on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit/TSN2/RDS/97.1 the Ticket) looming large.

After practice, the Wings’ players and coach spoke with the assembled media:

Roughly translated: Charlie Forslund discusses his time at the Red Wings’ summer development camp, injury issues in Sweden

Red Wings prospect Charlie Forslund spoke with Hockeynews.se’s Andreas Hanson regarding an injury he’s suffered while playing for Mora IK of the Allsvenskan, and while this article is cut off by a paywall, the part of the article that is above the paywall is worth translating:

Charlie Forslund was praised at the Detroit Red Wings’ summer development camp, and was looking forward to settling in with Mora IK of the Hockeyallsvenksan this season.

Then everything turned–even before he had time to get on the ice.

“It’s really sad when it went well over there,” he told Hockeynews.se.

Ties between Sweden and the Detroit Red Wings have been strong for many years.

One of the lesser-known Swedish Red Wings-affiliated players is 19-year-old Charlie Forslund of Mora IK.

The Falu native was drafted by Detroit in 2024 in the 6th round, something perhaps unexpected when he had played in the Hockeyettan with his parent team, Falu IF. But after that he signed a contract with Mora, and played 12 games in the Hockeyallsvenskan this past season, combined with their Under-20 team.

He was also attending Detroit’s summer camp last year and this summer, and this time he had noticed that he had taken big steps in his development, he says.

“It was the second year I was there, there weren’t many question marks then. I was more comfortable, had met everyone there before, it was easier to take for myself. I could pick out what I’m good at, in another way,” he tells me.

At the camp there was a mixture of everything you can imagine, he tells us – practice on ice, mental exercises, physical training, and tests of everything from heart function and endurance to muscle strength and explosiveness.

“Everything is a level up from what you’re used to,” he said.

The story continues behind a paywall, and here’s hoping that Forslund gets back up to speed soon.

Tweets from Wednesday’s practice: lineup remains stable ahead of Thursday’s opener vs. Montreal

The Detroit Red Wings took to the ice at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center one day before Detroit’s 2025-2026 home opener against the Montreal Canadiens (7 PM EDT start on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit/TSN2/RDS/97.1 the Ticket).

Montreal happens to be playing in Toronto tonight (7 PM EDT start on TVA Sports and Sportsnet), with Samuel Montembeault starting in goal, so we already know that Jakub Dobes will be the starter on Thursday evening.

Coach McLellan suggested yesterday that the team would be made to feel “light and fast” today, and we’ll see whether that was the case after practice…

If you’re attending tomorrow night’s game, there’s going to be a “Red Carpet Walk” from 3-4 PM and a pregame set of player introductions starting at 6:35 PM, and the Wings will be wearing their heritage alternate jerseys as well.

Update: For what it’s worth, three of the Detroit News’s four polled sportswriters believe that the Wings will make the playoffs this season:

Continue reading Tweets from Wednesday’s practice: lineup remains stable ahead of Thursday’s opener vs. Montreal