The Detroit Red Wings have been looking for a certain kind of winger for years: one who can handle the puck, punish defenders, and still bring enough edge to wear teams down. Michael Brandsegg-Nygård is giving them exactly that.
After opening the 2025-26 season without a point, the Norwegian forward spent time in the AHL to sharpen his game for North American hockey. Head coach Todd McLellan said before Detroit’s Nov. 5 game against the Vegas Golden Knights, “He had the tools that we talked about earlier, but things were happening really fast for him, both offensively and defensively. Just needed more time, marinate a little bit more and get the confidence level up and do things a little bit quicker and we’re seeing it happen now for him.”
The adjustment has shown up fast. Brandsegg-Nygård scored his first NHL goal four games into the season and has settled in as a real piece of Detroit’s offense. Through 17 games, he has 10 points, tied for fifth on the team, and has already posted four separate two-point outings.
But the part that really jumps off the page is what he’s doing without the puck.
At 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, Brandsegg-Nygård has piled up 75 hits in 17 games, which puts him in the top five in the league among all skaters. ProHockeyReference projects that pace to 375 hits over an 84-game season, which would pass Cal Clutterbuck’s rookie record of 356, set in 2009 with the Minnesota Wild.
After Detroit’s win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 29, Brandsegg-Nygård explained the mindset behind that style: “Hopefully if I get them pretty hard, they recognize me for the next time I’m getting to them. So maybe they throw away a puck or 2.”
That kind of approach has fit neatly into what McLellan is trying to build in Detroit. The rookie has become part of the tone-setting group for a young Red Wings core that is making itself felt shift after shift.
“We’ve talked a lot about not losing your guy, and sometimes it’s easier to just crash into him so you know where he is versus just staying away and letting him go through.” Brandsegg-Nygård said in a recent interview with DetroitRedWings.com
Detroit’s next test comes against Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche, who enter the matchup on a two-game losing streak. That gives MacKinnon, last year’s Rocket Richard Trophy winner, another chance to turn up the heat on the Red Wings’ defense.
McLellan didn’t shy away from the comparison between the two players.
“Like we talk about Brandsegg-Nygård being a bully. [MacKinnon]is a bully that scores 50.
Maybe Brands will get there one day, but this is a bully that scores 50 and he can flat out fly.” McLellan said.
McLellan saw MacKinnon up close during the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, when he coached “The Young Guns” of Team North America. And for a coach who once handed out advice to Connor McDavid as he was getting started in the NHL, that’s not exactly a small compliment.
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Todd McLellan has made it clear the focus is not only on effort, but on execution when games tighten up. Closing out starts and getting more from the players who are supposed to drive the offense remain part of the conversation, and the coming stretch will test whether Detroit can translate those goals into results. With road games looming and little room for drift, this trip has the feel of a measuring stick for a team still trying to define its momentum. [Read more 🡒]