Red Wings prospects Marco Kasper and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard are representing their countries at Olympic qualifying events this month for the 2026 Milano Cortina Games
Red Wings prospects Marco Kasper and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard are representing their countries at Olympic qualifying events this month for the 2026 Milano Cortina Games
Marco Kasper and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard will attend Red Wings training camp in September looking to show they're potential difference-makers for Detroit. But first, they've got a little unfinished business on the international circuit.
Kasper and Brandsegg-Nygard are both representing their countries at Olympic qualifying tournaments this month. Kasper and Team Austria are playing in Group D, while Brandsegg-Nygard and Team Norway are in Group F.
These final qualifying tournaments are each nation's last chance to participate in the 2026 Olympic Games. Austria must win its tournament against Kazakhstan, Hungary and Slovakia. The country last appeared in the Olympic games in 2014, finishing 1-0-0-3 with its only win against Norway.
Norway's Olympic history includes a few more recent passages. The Norwegians missed the Olympics in 2022, but they did appear in the 2018 PyeongChang games, finishing 0-1-1-3 overall. To make it back to the Games, Norway must finish best among Denmark, Great Britain and Japan at this month's qualification tournament.
Both Kasper and Brandsegg-Nygard are expected to play big roles for their teams. In five international appearances in 2022-23 — right after Detroit picked him eighth overall in the 2022 NHL Draft — Kasper tallied three points. Kasper has spent the past year developing a stronger offensive toolkit with the Grand Rapids Griffins, complementing his two-way defensive strengths. He should be a much more complete player for the hopeful Austrians. He already scored both goals for the Austrians in a warmup game against Slovenia, which they won 2-1 in overtime.
Brandsegg-Nygard, meanwhile, played on the Norwegians' top line at the 2024 IIHF Men's World Championship. He notched five points in seven Men's Worlds games, right before the Red Wings picked him 15th overall at the 2024 NHL Draft. Now, he's been dazzling in the SHL preseason with a couple of goals in as many games for Skelleftea AIK. Alongside Anaheim defense prospect Stian Solberg, he represents a youth movement among Norway's men's teams that brings a lot of potential to the table.
Kasper and Brandsegg-Nygard will both attend Red Wings training camp after their Olympic qualification duties are complete. If they have it their way, they'll be coming back with more Olympic games on the horizon.
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