One of the most surprising storylines heading into last season was the trio of rookies who made the Detroit Red Wings‘ roster out of training camp, and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård was one of them.
The 20-year-old Norwegian power forward wasted little time trying to make his mark. Through his first nine games with Detroit, he recorded an assist and tied for the team lead in hits with 28, while averaging roughly 12 and a half minutes of ice time per night.
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He would go on to play five more games with the Red Wings to close out the season, but the bulk of his year was spent in the AHL with the record-breaking Grand Rapids Griffins.
Brandsegg-Nygård experienced his share of highs and lows in his first full North American professional season, but he found his footing as the year went on. He finished with 20 goals and 24 assists for 44 points in 60 games with Grand Rapids, and carried that momentum into the postseason, posting four goals and four assists for a point-per-game pace during the Griffins’ disappointing eight-game playoff run.
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Elite Prospects currently projects Brandsegg-Nygård to make the Red Wings roster again next season. After spending this past year learning alongside fellow power forward James van Riemsdyk, the hope is that he can put it all together, arrive at training camp and preseason with solid work behind him, and crack the lineup on a full-time basis, finally making his impact felt at the NHL level.
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A bottom-six role with similar minutes to what he saw in his brief NHL stint, somewhere around 12 minutes a night, could suit him well, with the goal of producing a campaign in the neighborhood of the roughly 30-point season van Riemsdyk had in Detroit this past year. If he can get there, he’d represent a valuable, cost-controlled option for the Red Wings.
Time will tell what role awaits the former 15th-overall pick from the 2024 NHL Draft. But after making the team out of camp once already, there’s a good chance Brandsegg-Nygård can do it again heading into next season.
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