Detroit Red Wings: Nate Danielson pushing for a roster spot

The Detroit Red Wings are putting the final touches on things and preparing themselves for the 2023-24 NHL season. As they do so, they have some decisions to make. Most notably, the Red Wings must decide what they want to do with their first-round pick from the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

For the Detroit Red Wings, it could very much result in Nate Danielson breaking camp with the team. It could wind up as an interesting turn of events, seeing Danielson break camp with the team, but a few things are pointing to that being the case.

The Red Wings took Danielson with the ninth overall pick in this summer’s NHL Entry Draft, and the youngster has impressed. He made a statement during the Prospect Tournament. It was not Connor Bedard or Adam Fantilli-type numbers, but Danielson made his presence known.

After all, the 200-foot game has been his strong suit, and he may not be all over the scoresheet, but he has found ways to get it done and impress. With that in mind, he might just end up breaking camp with the Red Wings.

Detroit Red Wings may give Nate Danielson a roster spot.

The Red Wings are going to have some decisions to make. Keeping Nate Danielson means giving a roster spot to the 19-year-old youngster with plenty to learn. It seems to be trending toward a baptism by fire, dumping him onto the roster, and having a “you’ll figure it out” type of mentality.

It’s not slight to Danielson, who’s been great thus far. He’s come in and made his presence known. From a strong performance in the Prospect Tournament to a good pre-season debut, there has been plenty to like.

The Red Wings are really high on Danielson, and rightfully so. There’s plenty to be said about his involvement and his play to this point. It’s a small sample size, but he’s shown some intriguing things and flashed reasons as to why he could be a big piece of the puzzle down the line.

The thing that pushes it over the edge is that the Red Wings may break camp with Danielson on the roster, or they would have to send him back to Juniors. He had a great Junior campaign last season, and another year would be good, but that also would require him to take a much longer road to Detroit.

Bringing him in now and mixing him in here and there to get his feet under him in the NHL game could be worth considering. Given his play to this point, the Red Wings could very much so be considering this.

Nothing is set in stone, but Danielson might end up breaking camp with the Red Wings, earning himself a roster spot with the NHL squad.