"He Brings It Every Night": Michael Brandsegg-Nygård Showing He Belongs In NHL

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Last season, forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygård earned a spot on the Detroit Red Wings' opening night roster but was eventually sent back to the American Hockey League's Grand Rapids Griffins, where he played the majority of the campaign.

This season, it's a different story. 

Brandsegg-Nygård has firmly planted himself into the conversation for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's best rookie, currently finding himself tied for fifth overall in rookie scoring with eight points (three players are tied for nine points).

As if that weren't enough, he employs a playing style of a prototypical power forward, hitting anything and everything in his way. He leads all Red Wings players with 54 hits, which ranks sixth overall among all NHL players. 

In fact, his 11 hits during Monday's 4-3 shootout win over the Edmonton Oilers established a new franchise single-game record, which he said he found out about on social media.

"I saw it on Instagram," he said with a smile following Thursday's practice. 

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"I mean, I didn't think hitting was getting part of a record, but it's cool to have that," he continued. "It's fun." 

Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan, who previously referred to Brandsegg-Nygård as an on-ice bully that other players could take an example from, is loving what he's seeing from the Norwegian-born forward. 

"It's quite evident that he has that in his game. I think I called him a bully a couple of weeks ago, and that hasn't changed one bit. We wanted our team to be heavier and harder to play against, a little more physicality in many different ways. (He's) brought that, day in and day out, over and over again." 

The most encouraging aspect of his playing style is that he has consistently displayed it, rather than merely showing flashes of it from time to time.

"When you see repetition from a player, over and over again, it's part of his game; it's who he is," McLellan said. "He brings it every night." 

During Training Camp, Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Dan Watson said Brandsegg-Nygård was their best player during the Calder Cup Playoffs earlier this spring. During the regular season, he scored 20 goals and added 24 assists in 60 games before recording four goals and four assists in eight playoff games.

His performance so far this season with the Red Wings is further proof that he belongs at the NHL level.

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