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Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s adaptation to North American hockey may not take a particularly long time

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.”

Recapping the Red Wings’ 6-5 loss during Sunday’s Prospect Games affair, and offering some implications thereof

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects split their “Prospect Games” against the Dallas Stars, winning a 6-2 decision over Dallas on Saturday, and dropping a 6-5 decision on Sunday.

I shared my impressions regarding the second game a couple of hours ago, and while I was getting Aunt Annie dinner, Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson spoke with the Wings’ media corps regarding his take on the game.

Watson told the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan that fatigue was an issue as the young team tried to grind out a pair of wins over the course of a pair of evenings:

“I knew they (Stars) were going to come out on fire, which they did,” said Dan Watson, the Grand Rapids Griffins coach, who coached the Wings’ prospects in these two games. “But I was proud of the way our guys settled in. Once we got some offensive zone time, we were able to wear them down and they took some penalties and then our power play took over, and that was a big momentum boost. (The Wings) probably got a little tired, especially our top six forwards there, we shuffled the lines around later in the game to try and generate some offense. But overall, we’re pleased with what we saw.”

Watson felt the Wings may have been looking for offense too much late in the game.

“When you do that, we didn’t have the numbers back and they capitalized on some wide rush chances and came away with the win,” Watson said.

[Center Nate] Danielson felt the Wings were more structured the night before in a convincing victory.

“We definitely played a lot better as a team (Saturday),” Danielson said. “The games were maybe kind of run around a little bit, and a little sloppy. I know there were a couple of play I’d like back, but that’s kind of the way these games go.”

As DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills noted, there are very few negatives when you’re playing a two-game slate of what are essentially “get a jump on the NHL competition” events against 25-and-under opponents, but coach Watson did see some progression of the positive variety, too:

“I think it’s a great opportunity for the young guys to gel,” Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Dan Watson said. “They’re draft picks, again I mentioned that we hope to see them play together whether it’s in Grand Rapids or Detroit. It’s an opportunity to know each other, learn about each other. The guys I obviously had in Grand Rapids, it was an opportunity for us to see what kind of summer they had. I thought our guys competed really hard all the way through. They probably got a little bit tired, especially our top six forwards there. Shuffled some lines around later in the game to try to generate a little more offense, but overall pretty pleased with what I saw.”

Watson praised the players who ate into the Stars’ early 2-0 lead…

Continue reading Recapping the Red Wings’ 6-5 loss during Sunday’s Prospect Games affair, and offering some implications thereof

Red Wings drop Sunday’s Prospect Games finale 6-5; here are some thoughts and impressions from the game

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects cruised to a 6-2 victory over the Dallas Stars’ prospects on Saturday night, but Sunday night’s affair was a very different matter.

Detroit battled their way back from a 2-0 1st period deficit to push their way into a 5-3 3rd period lead, but Dallas would respond with 3 3rd period goals to swipe a 6-5 victory from the Red Wings’ prospects.

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a fine recap:

Shai Buium, Carson Bantle, Liam Kilfoil, Nate Danielson and Ondrej Becher scored for the Red Wings, who converted three times on the power play.

The Red Wings scored a pair of power-play goals in the first period, which ended tied 2-2.

First, Buium capped a nice passing play with Amadeus Lombardi and Bantle to score his second goal in as many games. Then Bantle, from the edge of the crease, banged in a rebound. Buium is preparing for his second season with the Griffins after tallying two goals and 29 points in 67 games in 2024-25. Bantle appeared in 23 games with Grand Rapids (one goal) and 39 games with the ECHL Toledo Walleye (21 goals, eight assists).

Kilfoil snapped a 2-2 tie by roofing a backhand shot off the rush at 6:28 of the second period. Kilfoil, 18, invited to camp on a tryout, plays for Halifax of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.

Danielson added to the lead with his team’s third power-play goal, cutting to the middle of the ice and firing in a wrist shot from the slot at 11:46.

Becher fired in a one-timer on a pass from Lombardi to put the Red Wings ahead 5-3 at 5:03 of the third period.

Minus PointStreak, which provides detailed stats when the teams are in Traverse City, we’ll rely on Red Wings Prospects on Twitter for the goals and assists…

Continue reading Red Wings drop Sunday’s Prospect Games finale 6-5; here are some thoughts and impressions from the game

Stream link: Game 2 of the Prospect Games between Detroit and Dallas

On Saturday night, the Detroit Red Wings’ Prospect Games team took a 6-2 decision over the Dallas Stars’ prospects.

Tonight, the two teams will battle in the second and final game of the Prospect Games from Frisco, Texas, at 7 PM EDT (6 PM Central). You can watch the game stream on here on DetroitRedWings.com (no embed code, sorry).

It appears that coach Dan Watson’s going with an 11 forwards and 7 defensemen lineup tonight, with Michal Pradel in goal:

Stupid anxiety returns

My apologies for my absence on Saturday. I suffered a massive anxiety attack.

While I availed myself of all the medication I can take and ask the coping mechanisms I know of, I was unable to knock the anxiety back down to a reasonable level.

I will return as soon as I’m able to feel like a human being again. Right now, I’m in a lot of pain and I need to rest as best as I can.

I really hate when this happens. I just want to do my work.

A bit of preseason praise for Noah Dower Nilsson, Anton Johansson and Michal Svrcek

Before every SHL season, Aftonbladet takes some of the SHL’s star players and analysts, and Aftonbladet asks them to create a salary-capped “dream team” roster.

According to Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff, both an SHL expert and an SHL player mentioned Red Wings prospects in their dream team selections:

According to analysts at Sportsbladet, one of those [difference-makers] is going to be Dower Nilsson.

“I think an injury-free Noah Dower Nilsson will get a new lease of life under (new coach) Robert Ohlsson in Frölunda, where he has impressed in the preseason,” Sportbladet’s Jonathan Konekta wrote.

In 35 games last season with Frölunda, Dower Nilsson, 20, accounted for four goals and six assists. Detroit selected him 73rd overall in the 2023 NHL entry draft.

Noah Dower Nilsson was coming off shoulder surgery a summer ago, so he didn’t get a full season in during the 2024-2025 campaign…

Along with himself, former Red Wings forward Mathias Brome is including Red Wings prospects Anton Johansson and Michal Svrcek on his team.

“Anton Johansson will get to play a lot (in Leksand),” Brome said. “Michal Svrcek is a cheap wing in Brynäs.”

21-year-old Anton Johansson comes highly-heralded by many, including his father, Tjomme, who happens to be Leksands IF’s GM, and Svrcek, a 2025 draft pick, has pluck, and may very well play the majority of his season on Brynas’ A-Team.

The ‘Prospect Games’ will be a learning experience and a bit of runway for the Red Wings’ prospects

There is no Matthew Wuest Trophy at stake and no three-games-in-four-nights schedule now that the Red Wings’ Prospect Tournament has become a two-game exhibition against the Dallas Stars…

But that doesn’t mean that the Red Wings’ prospect team will take 2-game exhibition series (8 PM EDT on Saturday night on DetroitRedWings.com/Victory+ and 7 PM Sunday night on DetroitRedWings.com/Victory+) will take the set any less seriously.

Before heading down to Frisco, Texas, DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills spoke with Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson about the importance of the tournament for the Wings’ prospects and free agent tryouts*…

“We want to see players on a team that competes and works really hard,” Watson told DetroitRedWings.com on Friday afternoon. “We gave them a ton of information, so we’re going to see how much that sticks. Sometimes, you can see how a player understands the information given, so that’s another part of it. We just want them to go out and play. They’re all here for a reason, so go be the best version of yourself and show why you are here. It’s also the first impression for management to see what the guys’ summers looked like. And for us as a staff, it’s a great opportunity to get back to presenting to teams and coaching on the bench. There’s a lot that goes into this weekend versus just seeing it as two games.”

All the action from Comerica Center will be streamed live on DetroitRedWings.com and the Detroit Red Wings App. A full roster and schedule can also be viewed here.

“Everybody is going to be competing this weekend,” forward prospect Alexandre Doucet said. “There’s going to be a lot of eyes on us. It’s a good way to show what we’re capable of.”

Parallel to Doucet’s approach heading into the two-game series, helping the players continue to grow their game is important to Watson.

“There’s going to be some guys playing different positions so we can see how they perform, whether it’s a center playing wing or wing having to play center,” Watson said. “The same goes with the defensemen too – some guys are going to be playing their off hand. It’s giving guys opportunities to play different roles within the lineup that maybe they aren’t going to play this winter and to keep developing them.”

The emphasis for the prospects is always to give them a running start ahead of training camp instead of throwing them to the wolves when the NHL players show up, affording the “kids” the opportunity to play players of their general age range and play games at prospect speed ahead of training camp.

It also helps the players to come together and have to gel in a short-tournament environment, as Watson told Mills:

“All of this is great,” Watson said. “Whether it’s going north to Traverse City or south to Frisco, it’s an opportunity for these guys to be together. Whether it’s at the hotel or on the flight, they’re all going to be together. Hopefully, they’re playing together at some point in time too, whether it’s in Grand Rapids or in Detroit. They can really gel…And for the staff, this is a great opportunity for us to come back together. We can see each other face-to-face, meet face-to-face and really talk about what we want to do and how we want to achieve a successful weekend.”

Continued; the Red Wings’ prospects and coaching staff will watch and learn this weekend, and we’ll do the same.

*Just as an FYI, the prospects who are invited to the tournament as try-outs or Grand Rapids Griffins-contracted players attend training camp as well (for the most part).

Three B’s among the ‘players to watch’ during the Prospect Games: Bear, Brandsegg-Nygard and Buium

With the Red Wings and Dallas Stars’ pair of “Prospect Games” scheduled to start tomorrow (8 PM EDT on DetroitRedWings.com and Victory+), MLive’s Ansar Khan examines the Wings’ roster for the tournament and picks 5 players to watch during the back-to-back games this weekend. Among them:

Carter Bear: A winger who blends scoring ability and competitiveness, Bear is described as having a non-stop motor and is coming off surgery for a torn Achilles. It shortened his season with Everett (WHL) to 56 games (40 goals, 42 assists). He is slated to return to Everett for his final junior season following training camp.

Michael Brandsegg-Nygard: A good-sized winger (6-1, 198) who likes playing physical and has offensive upside. He joined the Grand Rapids Griffins in April after his season ended with Skelleftea AIK of the Swedish Hockey League. His game might be better suited for the playoffs, where he tallied six goals and nine points in 14 games between Skelleftea and Grand Rapids compared to five goals and 11 points in 44 regular season games.

Shai Buium: Big, left-shooting defenseman (6-3, 209) is coming off his first pro season, when he finished second among Griffins defensemen with 25 points (including two goals) in 67 games. Selected 36th overall in 2021, he’s preparing for his second AHL season.

Continued (paywall) with praise for Nate Danielson and Axel Sandin Pellikka; I’m very interested to see whether Bear’s partially torn Achilles tendon has healed;

MBN is going to have to step up his physical game to truly establish himself as a power forward;

Buium has quite the opportunity to jump over other defensemen ahead of him on the Wings’ depth chart this upcoming season.