Red Wings top prospect Nate Danielson explains main goal is to make main roster in exclusive interview with The Hockey News. 

On Wednesday, The Hockey News had an exclusive sit-down interview with Detroit Red Wings top prospect Nate Danielson. The Red Deer, Alberta native has been enjoying his off-season while adding pieces to his already loaded tool bag. 

When asked about his training focus, Danielson mentioned that, like many young players, he’s working on adding weight. Besides working on fine-tuning his skating, shooting and other basics, he looks to build on his 6-foot-2 frame and use it to his advantage next season. 

“I wanted to put on some weight this summer, so just fixing that on the nutrition side of it and then obviously, hitting the gym a lot and trying to put on a little weight was a big thing,” Danielson explained “I guess the whole main goal for the year is to try to get a look with the Wings.”

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Red Wings fans have plenty of reasons to be excited about the future arrival of the 2023 ninth overall pick. Danielson was recently mentioned on The Athletic Hockey Show, hosted by Red Wings beat reporter Max Bultman and The Athletic’s Senior NHL Prospect Writer, Corey Pronman. During their breakdown of Detroit’s prospect pipeline, Pronman named Danielson the top prospect in the organization and went a step further, boldly stating that Danielson is ahead of current Red Wings top-six forward Marco Kasper at the same stage of development and even described Danielson as “more toolsy” than Kasper.

While the spotlight and expectations that come with being a high draft pick and top prospect can be intense, Danielson says he doesn’t let the outside noise get to him and he instead tries to focus on his love for the game.

“I feel like the most pressure I feel is just what I put on myself, I'm hard on myself as it is, so I think just if you let all that get to you, then it's going to be tough mentally to be able to perform,” Danielson said “I'm playing hockey, and that's what I love to do, so I feel like just kind of going out there and just trying to get better every day and trying to prove my best so I can help with the Red Wings, is my focus right now.” 

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Danielson was one of the rare players that made a seamless transition from junior hockey to the AHL. With the Griffins last season, the 20-year-old center posted 12 goals and 27 assists for 39 points through 71 games of his rookie campaign. When asked about the adjustment moving to pro hockey, Danielson explained that it took him a couple weeks to adjust as the competition was better and stronger. 

“Just coaching is a lot better, every team plays better as a team, like systems wise, so I feel like there's a lot less time and space because of that and then you add in everyone's faster and stronger,” Danielson said “I think that was the biggest adjustment just realizing that it's not the same and you can't do necessarily the same things, so I feel like it was just kind of figuring out what made me successful in different areas of my game to contribute."

When asking the former Brandon Wheat Kings captain about his own style of play, he described himself as a two-way player and likes to model his game after a certain Montreal Canadiens captain. 

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“I like watching Nick Suzuki, like how he plays, just how he plays well on his own end the ice, and he's also very creative and gifted offensively and I think that's someone that I kind of strive for,” he said “I wouldn't say that necessarily that's what I'm at right now, but that's kind of someone that I strived to be like, and model my game, after someone like that."

Outside of hockey in the off-season, Danielson is an avid golfer as he plays a lot during the summer with his roommates and fellow Red Wing prospects Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Emmitt Finnie and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård. Danielson has been playing for most of his life and explained that his handicap is close to a scratch golfer as it’s somewhere in the 2.5 to 3 range. This off-season, he also enjoyed playing tennis and other active outdoor activities back home in Alberta. 

Danielson comes across as a grounded individual who fully understands the significance of the high-profile position he’s in and manages it with poise beyond his years. His calm demeanor and ability to tune out the noise makes him especially appealing in a high-pressure market like Detroit, home to an Original Six team. It’s easy to see why fans should be excited about the potential addition of an impact player to the Red Wings’ lineup in the near future.

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