Detroit’s promising young winger could be headed to the AHL as speculation swirls around a lineup shake-up.
Red Wings Reassign Michael Brandsegg-Nygård to AHL Griffins
Young forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygård heads to the AHL Griffins after a brief NHL stint. See his path forward.
Fans of the Detroit Red Wings may receive news they don't want to hear on Monday as it's being speculated that rookie Michael Brandsegg-Nygård will be sent down to the AHL.
This comes after the 20-year-old winger played just over six minutes in Saturday's come-from-behind win over the St. Louis Blues. Not to mention at Sunday's practice, he filled in on the top line with Emmitt Finnie and Lucas Raymond as the team likely wanted to give captain Dylan Larkin some rest while the rest of the lineup could get a feel for what it would be like to not have Brandsegg-Nygård on the third line.
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If he's going to play the fewest minutes on the team every night, it doesn't make sense to keep up the former 15th overall pick when he can go to the AHL and find more meaningful opportunities and minutes. He can build up some confidence while also using his limited NHL experience to help further angle and build on his style of play to be more effective at the pro level.
According to MLive's Ansar Khan, the Red Wings may also consider calling up winger Carter Mazur to replace Brandsegg-Nygård's role in the lineup. Mazur has been sensational to start the AHL season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, posting four goals and two assists for six points in five games. Mazur proved his skill by earning a spot with Detroit last season, but his momentum was cut short by an injury during his NHL debut that ended his season.
Now fully recovered, the 23-year-old is determined to pick up where he left off and chase his lifelong dream of suiting up for the Red Wings once again. Removing Brandsegg-Nygård's physical edge to the Detroit lineup will hurt but Mazur is gritty as well with comparisons to the play style of Florida's Sam Bennett.
“I was watching [Bennett] in playoffs, and just how he competes, and he's just a hard player to play against, I feel like that's kind of how I am I'm not going to be a guy who's going to go out there and dominate and get you 80 points,” Mazur told the Hockey News in an off-season interview "I'm a gritty guy, I like to go to the hard areas, I feel like I would fit well on a top line, I could play up and down the lineup, and it's just something that I've really built in my game, I like to penalty kill, I just like to be hard to play against."
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