My ever-growing no-trade list for the Detroit Red Wings

While I understand where my colleague, Todd, is coming from when he says no one within reason should be off limits to trade for the Detroit Red Wings, I disagree. 

I don’t consider myself a great scout, but I can say that I have watched this group of young Red Wings players and prospects consistently. There are times when I’ve offered some of them in a trade for one of my favorite players in the National Hockey League (NHL), but for the most part, I love this group of young players and prospects the Red Wings have built through the draft.

In my previous post, I included five players, so if you don’t see the players you might expect in this post, that’s likely why. Also, I won’t be including the big three: Dylan Larkin, Lucas. Raymond, or Moritz Seider. Feels like those three go without saying unless you’re a wild child in Hockeytown and are willing to trade anyone. That’s not me, though, so they’re the no-brainers on my no-trade list.

These Detroit Red Wings players and prospects might catch people off guard, but they all have traits that I value and that I think are difficult to find.

Here are three more Detroit Red Wings young players/prospects that are on my no-trade list

1 Michael Brandsegg-Nygård

One of the most difficult things to do in the National Hockey League (NHL) is to score goals. Something Michael Brandsegg-Nygård is good at? Scoring goals.

It’s still a work in progress, of course, but he has the best shot of any of the prospects that I have watched. It’s hard, accurate, and a quick release. With some refinement, Brandsegg-Nygård will be one of the top goalscorers for the Red Wings for the next decade. The nastiness he plays with is just icing on the cake. 

I hear the critics now, Brandsegg-Nygård has an eye-catching five goals in 38 games played (coupled with six assists for 11 points), which gives fans pause for all the wrong reasons. It’s understandable.

Keeping track of all the Red Wings prospects is challenging with time differences, access to watch content, lack of free time we get it’s. hard to assess a player outside the simple counting stats that websites like Elite Prospects provide. 

If you wanted to see production out of Brandsegg-Nygård, I understand your desires. At the same time, I had different expectations of Brandsegg-Nygård going into this Swedish Hockey League (SHL).

When I watched Brandsegg-Nygård in the prospect games and training camp, I came to the conclusion that his style of play is best suited to the North American-style game. While the jump from Norway to Sweden is less strenuous for a young man, the SHL is a challenging league for even the most seasoned of veterans. 

The SHL has marathon skaters and elite skill, but at the same time, it lacks the physicality or freeness of physical play that a league like the American Hockey League (AHL) provides.

From what I gathered in those early games before Brandsegg-Nygård returned to Skellefteå AIK of the SHL, he is a physical, hard-nosed player. Although I am usually happy to let players choose their own path and play in the SHL as they wish (it’s a great development league for prospects), I couldn’t help but think it was a mistake for Brandsegg-Nygård. On paper, everything made sense for him to return to the SHL. Yet, his on-ice performance lent itself to the AHL.

It’s not life-altering, and Brandsegg-Nygård hasn’t suffered because of his play in the SHL. At the same time, I think Brandsegg-Nygård would have fit better with the Grand Rapids Griffins and the AHL style of play. 

The fact that Brandsegg-Nygård hasn’t produced in the SHL isn’t a negative in my book. He’s learned a lot, and his SHL team as a whole has been underwhelming all season. 

It’s likely in Brandsegg-Nygård’s best interest to make the jump to the AHL either at the end of this SHL season or at the beginning of next season. He will get plenty of playing time, and I think he might surprise some fans when his production picks back up.

Brandsegg-Nygård should be a top-six forward, almost in the same vein as a modern power forward if all goes according to plan.

2 Liam Dower-Nilsson

This guy comes a bit out of left field. I’ve even seen some upper echelon fans saying he might not get a contract, but I beg to differ. 

Even if I didn’t buy into what Liam Dower-Nilsson is selling, there is a gaping abyss within the system at center. What has Dower-Nilsson promised since he was switched to wing, prior to being drafted? Nobody is going to tell him he’s not defensively sound enough to be a defenseman, as he mentioned in his media availability after getting drafted.

A fifth-round draft pick (134th overall), much later than public scouts or Dower-Nilsson expected, is usually a long shot of making the NHL—let alone being an impact player in the NHL. Since being drafted, Dower-Nilsson has flown under the radar of most fans. 

Instead of playing in the SHL like many Detroit Red Wings prospects, Dower-Nilsson has been loaned to IF Björklöven of the HockeyAllsvenskan (second-tier men’s league in Sweden, not like the AHL as it’s not a development league but a separate professional league altogether). The fact that he’s playing in a league with less competition and coverage lends fans to pass quick judgment on Dower-Nilsson that he may not be developing as he should. 

In contrast, Dower-Nilsson is developing right on track. According to Elite Prospects, the first season with IF Björklöven saw 52 games with 12 goals and 15 assists combined for 27 points. There were 10 penalty minutes that Dower-Nilsson earned with a +4 rating. Season two (so far, it seems like one more to go) has shown 51 games played where Dower-Nilsson scored 20 goals and assisted on 21 goals for a total of 41 points (a jump of 14 points). He earned 24 penalty minutes and a +26 rating. I know, I know plus/minus is an outdated statistic, but Dower-Nilsson is tied for the team lead, which isn’t just lucky. 

As importantly, Elite Prospects shows his playoff performance last season. Dower-Nilson finished with four games played, one goal, four assists for a combined five total points. He did not record a penalty and had a +1 rating.

Elite Prospects sums up his player profile well:

"He is a playmaker, a passer, a set-up man, the player who feeds you the puck through three layers of defence right on your tape at the goal-mouth and the quarterback of your power lay. Dower-Nilsson never reveals the position of his intended outlet. He scans the ice once to locate it and then looks away, only tracking its progress in his peripheral vision."

EliteProspects 2021 NHL Draft Guide

Since this draft guide was written, Dower-Nilsson has worked on his shot. 

It seems like any time someone tells Dower-Nilsson he’s not good enough in an aspect of his game, he makes sure it becomes a source of strength in his toolkit (or at the very least not an area of concern any longer). 

Dower-Nilsson doesn’t seem to have fear on the ice. Although he’s only six feet and less than 200 lbs, Dower-Nilsson sometimes plays like he’s bigger than Simon Edvinsson. He drives the net, goes to the dirty areas, and hasn’t ever shied away from the physical side of hockey. 

Even if the Red Wings didn’t lack centers with the Grand Rapids Griffins or in the NHL, I would keep Dower-Nilsson in my system. Dower-Nilsson hasn’t given me any reason to doubt him so far, so I’m not going to start now. 

Ideally, Dower-Nilsson heads over to North America either to close out this season (if IF Björklöven is booted from the playoffs quickly) or next season. 

He’s likely a middle-six center, but with his determination, there might be room for a higher ceiling. I understand why people don’t believe he will make it or be that much of an impact in the NHL, but at the same time, he’s a stubborn guy who has the right mentality to prove doubters wrong (and his truthers right).

Why would a middle-six center be a no-trade prospect for me? He’s a player a team wins with, and I like him. He won’t cost much or demand much, but will provide the needed oomph the Detroit Red Wings so desperately need.

3 Shai Buium

Shai Buium has to be one of my favorite prospects to watch.

Maybe other fans have made up their minds on Buium or have been able to label him, but after years of watching him, I still am intrigued as I can’t put my finger on who Buium is or what he might become. 

Buium has great skills in his toolkit: decent skating, hockey IQ, two-way play. He provides everything that I’m looking for in a defenseman. While floating around the Internet, I see many folks believe Buium is a bottom pair or fringe NHL player, but I disagree. I think he will top out as a mid-pair defenseman. However, if Buium is our third-pair defenseman, we’ll know the rebuild went right, as he would be a formidable third-pair defenseman. 

He’s won two championship titles (one more than fellow Denver Pioneers Carter Mazur, who is making his debut tonight as of writing this post, and Antti Tuomisto). 

Finally scoring his first goal, Buium had a bit of a hockey makeover recently but is fitting in very well with the Griffins. 

Buium has a great, well-balanced personality. He seems to have a good sense of when to have fun or button down the hatches for the serious moments on the ice. 

Per Elite Prospects, Buium has played in 52 games with one goal and 19 assists for a total of 20 points. He’s recorded 10 penalty minutes and a +1 rating. 

His stat line is pretty consistent with his time at the University of Denver, which he attended for three seasons. He’s good for a handful of goals per season, but his playmaking, well-rounded game carries his play. 

Something that I can’t help but wonder, we’ve seen all these Swedish defensemen get attention from the likes of Niklas Kronwall. I’m sure he’s touched base with Buium, but it’s my understanding that with college players, the NHL team is pretty hands-off in the development. Now that Buium possibly gets more hands-on development within the Red Wings organization, I’m curious to see how much it helps his overall game.

Buium has an excellent foundation to build upon, but I reckon he could build more confidence overall. Maybe it’s something the Detroit Red Wings organization can pull out of Buium a bit more. There are times that I’m not sure Buium understands how great of a player he is and his unique skillset—essentially assert himself and his game more consistently.