As the 2026-27 NHL season rounds the corner, for better or worse, the Detroit Red Wings are on the verge of playing hockey again. Lost amidst a turbulent offseason is the fact that after years of stockpiling well-regarded young talent in the draft, some of these youngsters are beginning to filter into the Detroit lineup.
One such youngster is 2024 first-round pick Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. In his first North American season last year, MBN put together an eye-popping training camp and proceeded to lead the NHL in scoring during the preseason. That production, combined with his strong skating and physical play, earned him a spot on the Red Wings’ opening night roster, giving him NHL minutes only a year after being drafted with the 15th pick of the draft.
Brandsegg-Nygard’s 2025-26 season at a glance
As one of only 20 picks from that draft year to have skated in an NHL game through the 2025-26 campaign, MBN’s quick debut is impressive. However, his scoring dried up once the lights came on in the regular season. The Norwegian winger skated in nine games in October, but only posted one point (an assist). His physical play translated, however, as his 28 hits in that span led the team.
Brandsegg-Nygard spent most of the remaining season in the AHL, where he had a solid season with the Grand Rapids Griffins. He notched 44 points on 20 goals and 24 assists in 60 games and put up eight more points in eight playoffs games for the league-leading Griffins. He also found his way in the lineup back in Detroit for five more games towards the end of the season, though he did not record a single point in that span.
Opportunity is there for MBN to shine
Overall, Brandsegg-Nygard’s first North American professional season was a rousing success. He possesses high-end ability in the 3 S’s: size, shooting and skating, which translated well against AHL competition on the scoresheet and physically taking the body against NHL talent. While playing on the wing puts him in competition with top vets such as Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat, there are spots to be earned in Detroit’s top six this season, which MBN could absolutely do.
With 14 NHL games to his credit, MBN’s 43 hits show a willingness to play hard in the corners while his 200+ pound frame allows him to absorb contact at the net front. During the team’s hot start to the 2024-25 season, surprising rookie Emmitt Finnie made an impact at the top of the lineup playing alongside Raymond and Dylan Larkin. While Larkin’s time in Detroit could end any day now, he is for the moment slotted in as the team’s top center and MBN could factor into the mix atop the lineup with his ability to keep up in terms of skating and his heavy shot that netted 20 goals at the AHL level.
Even if he doesn’t claim the prime ice time of a top line slot, MBN’s physical game and punishing shot can be penciled in further down the lineup for sheltered minutes as he rounds out his defensive game. The tools remain there as he can skate, play physical and rip a dangerous shot that can give Detroit’s bottom-six the type of opportunistic scorer they haven’t had since Daniel Sprong left.
MBN’s offense will determine his staying power
Based on everything Michael Brandsegg-Nygard has shown as a 20-year-old, he is going to be a lineup regular in the NHL for a long time. How much of an impact he makes will be determined by how often he can translate his heavy shot into actual goals on the scoreboard.
While MBN does things that most coaches love to have anywhere in their lineup, he isn’t a creator with the puck. Even watching him in the AHL, he is a bruising winger who can win battles for the puck in the corners to maintain possession, get on the forecheck in a hurry to create turnovers and fire the puck into the net. Those traits have a place on any line, but he is hardly the player to lug the puck up the ice and create offense with his passing abilities.
For a Red Wings’ franchise that is trying to find its way after a difficult offseason, MBN is in a weird place. He could absolutely thrive with his skills almost tailor made to create space for creative playmaking forwards to do their work and find him in spots to shoot his shot, but Detroit has a significant lack of forwards capable of such and trading Larkin will leave the Red Wings short one such player.
Ultimately, MBN needs to turn his shot into goals. His ability to pester NHL defenders with his physical play should create more than enough turnovers to create some opportunities on broken plays in a depth role, and earning prime ice time in the top half of the lineup could make him a 20+ goal scorer this season. To establish himself as a core player going forward, MBN needs to show that he can handle NHL minutes and produce around 15 goals and 30 points, with ideally those numbers creeping towards 20 goals and 40 points. I truly believe he has nothing else to gain from more time in the AHL, so what he does at the next step up will be a key factor in just how quickly Detroit can flip the page on its darkest stretch in franchise history.
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