The Detroit Red Wings have a very interesting philosophy when it comes to developing prospects.
Historically, the precedent has always been to let the prospects "marinate" or "overripen" in development leagues until the organization believes they're ready to graduate. Often, this means players like Tomas Tatar or Gustav Nyquist make belated debuts.
There are exceptions, of course. 19-year-old Lucas Raymond made the team just a year removed from his draft. Emmitt Finnie, who turned last offseason, made the roster and played all 82 games. It's clear that the current priority is to give the prospects every opportunity they can to succeed.
So why is Michael Brandsegg-Nygard deployed in the way the Red Wings have been utilizing him?
How the Red Wings have mismanaged Brandsegg-Nygard so far
At the start of the season, it was clear Brandsegg-Nygard needed more time in the AHL to develop. In nine games, he managed just one assist and looked out of place at the NHL level. When he went down, it took him a bit of time to find his bearings before he finally got into a good flow. The Red Wings should have called him up during his hot streak -- in fact, it's borderline malpractice that they didn't.
The Red Wings at that point in time needed extra scoring. Brandsegg-Nygard was at a point where it seemed like every shot he made went into the net. Why, then, didn't the Red Wings take the time to bring him up? Even if he didn't make an impact, it could show him how much better he'd need to play when the time came for him to be relied upon long-term.
At the end of the season, the deployment reached a breaking point of confusion.
The Red Wings had just a handful of games left after finally getting eliminated from the playoffs. Instead of giving Brandsegg-Nygard a chance to make an impact on the top-six, the Red Wings played him for around 11-12 minutes a night on the bottom line. If they were hoping he'd generate his own offense, the team was sadly mistaken.
It remains to be see why he wasn't given a shot when the games meant nothing.
How Brandsegg-Nygard performed in his role
If Brandsegg-Nygard's player archetype was a fourth-line grinder, his minutes and deployment reflected that. But that isn't his skillset. He's a physical winger with a bit of a scoring touch. The Red Wings didn't give him much of a chance to show his stuff. He was only able to play for a little bit of time, and, despite his physicality, it was clear he wasn't put in a position to succeed.
In an ideal world, he'll have a much better chance to find consistent footing during his sophomore campaign. Hopefully a strong showing during the Griffins' Calder Cup run inspires confidence in his skillset.
Grade: C+
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