The Red Wings hope that the Michael Brandsegg-Nygard who posted a lone assist over the course of his first 14 NHL games last season has become the Michael Brandsegg-Nygard who also fired off 20 goals and 24 assists for 44 points over the course of 60 games played for the Grand Rapids Griffins last season, and then blazed through 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points in 8 playoff games.
MBN seemed to lose his confidence while making his NHL debut early in the 2025-2026 season, but there’s no doubt that he found his goals in Grand Rapids, and, going into the 2026-2027 season, the Red Wings need MBN to find his scoring touch at the NHL level.
Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a 4 AM column discussing coach Todd McLellan’s hopes for the 20-year-old power forward…
“He’s proven he could shoot a puck in the net and put himself in position to do that,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “So we need him to get confident fast and feel good about his game. We’re really hoping he can [score], for the goal totals that we lost. Especially without Larks (Dylan Larkin) right now, that’s significant.”
“I did watch him in the [AHL] playoffs, and he did grow,” McLellan said. “His entry into North American hockey, like real intense North American hockey, was at the NHL level. It started well, but we could see that we probably weren’t going to get him what he needed to develop. And then he went down. We brought him back later in the year, and I think that return stint had already shown or proved to us that he was physically more engaged. He was more confident in where he was going on the ice to get the puck.
“He didn’t defer to somebody else for shots. He’s got a great shot. He used it. And then he went back to Grand Rapids for the playoffs, and yes, we did get to see him play a little bit. And I thought he used all of those tools and became a real effective player mentally.”
Brandsegg-Nygard told Duff that he understands his role is different now, and that he’s willing to put the work in that’s necessary for him to remain with the NHL team for the entirety of the 2026-2027 campaign:
“I feel more grown and know the game over here a little more,” Brandsegg-Nygard said. “I feel much more confident.
“Just being around the group here and knowing everyone better and feeling welcome to be here. So I’m happy to be here, and I really want to be here the whole season. So I’m going to work hard for that.”
Continued; cross your fingers…