Red Wings Recall Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
The Detroit Red Wings announced that they have recalled forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygard from their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. The recall was made under emergency conditions.
Today’s recall comes just shortly after the Red Wings were officially eliminated from playoff contention following a 5-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Detroit has a two-game road trip down to Florida to conclude its 2025-26 season, and now Brandsegg-Nygard will be a part of that trip.
Brandsegg-Nygard, 20, last played in the NHL exactly one month ago, for the final contest of a three-game stint on the NHL roster. Brandsegg-Nygard’s last two games in the NHL coincidentally also came against the league’s two Florida teams, who are the Red Wings’ final two upcoming opponents.
A 2024 first-round pick of the Red Wings, Brandsegg-Nygard is the highest-drafted Norwegian player in NHL history, the first to ever be selected in the first round. He spent the year following his selection in the SHL, scoring 11 points in 40 games for Skellefteå before joining Grand Rapids late in the season. He scored three points in three playoff contests for the Griffins.
This season has been Brandsegg-Nygard’s first full campaign in North America. He’s had a strong year, scoring 20 goals and 44 points in 58 games for Grand Rapids. While he hasn’t yet been able to translate that production to the NHL level, he also hasn’t looked entirely out of place when the Red Wings have brought him up to the NHL.
Brandsegg-Nygard has a hard-working forward who plays an endearing style of hockey that is tailor-made for the North American pro ranks. With how well he’s played in the AHL, and how little he’ll need to change the foundation of his game to be able to at least survive at the NHL level, it’s not out of the question that he makes a push for a full-time NHL roster spot as soon as next fall.
These final two games on Detroit’s schedule could be valuable data points in helping the Red Wings plan for next season’s team – and whether they can count on Brandsegg-Nygard to be on it.
Red Wings Sign Dylan James
The Red Wings have signed another one of their college prospects. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve signed winger Dylan James to a two-year, entry-level deal. The contract will begin next season. For the rest of this year, James will join AHL Grand Rapids on a tryout agreement. PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the deal, which carries a $1.05MM AAV, breaks down as follows:
| Year | NHL Salary | Signing Bonus | Minors Salary |
| 2026-27 | $922.5K | $102.5K | $85K |
| 2027-28 | $967.5K | $107.5K | $85K |
Detroit drafted the 22-year-old in the second round back in 2022, picking him 40th overall. James was coming off an impressive season with USHL Sioux City, one that saw him finish in the top 20 in league scoring with 28 goals and 33 assists in 62 games.
From there, James went on to play his college hockey in North Dakota where it took a while for his offensive game to come around. He recorded 16 points in his freshman year before notching 19 and 22 in his sophomore and junior years, respectively. But James saved his best offensive performance for last, picking up 21 goals and 11 assists in 40 games, leading the Fighting Hawks in goals while making the AHCA All-Academic Team for the fourth straight time. His team had made it to the Frozen Four but lost to Wisconsin on Thursday, ending his season.
While James will get an early start on his professional career by joining the Griffins on a tryout, it seems unlikely that he’ll see any sort of extended action in the AHL playoffs with Grand Rapids carrying a veteran-laden roster that has already locked up the top spot in the Western Conference.
Max Plante Wins 2026 Hobey Baker Award
After the Frozen Four tournament was whittled down to two on Thursday with Denver and Wisconsin moving on to the final on Saturday, there was other business to attend to on Friday off the ice with the presentation of the Hobey Baker Award. Given to the top player in college hockey, this year’s winner is University of Minnesota-Duluth sophomore Max Plante, a prospect of the Red Wings.
The sophomore was a second-round pick by Detroit back in 2024, going 47th overall. Plante got to play on a line with his brother, Zam, and Jayson Shaugabay, comprising one of the higher-scoring trios in Division I. The 20-year-old followed up a solid rookie showing by nearly doubling his point totals this season, notching 25 goals and 27 assists in 40 games, finishing two points ahead of his brother to lead the Bulldogs in scoring. His 52 points put him in a tie for third overall in NCAA scoring.
Unsurprisingly, Plante received many accolades with how his season went. Among the other awards he won this season was the NCHC Forward of the Year, NCHC Player of the Year, First Team All-Conference, and the College Hockey News Player of the Year. He indicated to reporters including Joe Smith of The Athletic (Twitter link) after the trophy presentation that he will return for his junior year and isn’t turning pro with Detroit just yet. In doing so, he becomes the first winner of the award to not turn pro since 2007 when Ryan Duncan did so, relays Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald (Twitter link).
The other two finalists for the award were Michigan senior T.J. Hughes and Denver junior Eric Pohlkamp. Hughes is expected to sign his first NHL contract in the very near future while Pohlkamp, the lone defenseman among the three finalists, is a fifth-round pick of the Sharks.
Other awards handed out this evening:
Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine took home the Mike Richter Award for the top NCAA goalie. The 21-year-old posted a 2.11 GAA with a .929 SV% in 34 games with Michigan State in his junior year and turned pro after their season came to an end. A Detroit second-rounder, he’s making his AHL debut tonight with Grand Rapids. Augustine was a Top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award and won the Big Ten Goaltender of the Year for the second straight year.
Flames prospect Ethan Wyttenbach won the Tim Taylor Award for Rookie of the Year. The 19-year-old was a fifth-round pick (144th overall) last June and had quite the freshman year at Quinnipiac. He played in 40 games, tallying 25 goals and 34 assists. That was good enough to not only lead his team in scoring but all of Division I. Unsurprisingly, he was also a Top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
Detroit Red Wings Recall Michal Postava
Following up on last night’s update that John Gibson wouldn’t return to the game for the Detroit Red Wings, the team provided indirect confirmation that Gibson’s short-term outlook isn’t great. Detroit announced that they’ve recalled netminder Michal Postava from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions.
As PHR’s Bradley Keith explained yesterday evening, “Gibson was run into by Philadelphia’s Owen Tippett, ending his night after 30:40 in the crease, giving up two goals on 15 shots.” Depending on the severity of Gibson’s injury, he could miss the Red Wings’ remaining three games of the regular season over the next five days.
Without Gibson, any remaining chances of making the playoffs would be significantly diminished. In late February, Detroit had over an 80% chance of making the postseason. After their third consecutive collapse in March, their chances stand at 6% according to MoneyPuck.
If they’re officially eliminated over the next few days, and Gibson remains out with injury, there is a chance Postava could make his NHL debut. After an impressive performance with HC Kometa Brno of the Czech Extraliga last season, the Red Wings signed Postava ahead of the current campaign.
Playing second fiddle to top goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa in Grand Rapids, the 24-year-old Postava has made a promising introduction to North American hockey. In 23 games for the Griffins, Postava has managed a 15-6-0 record with a .935 SV% and 1.78 GAA, including three shutouts.
Assuming the Red Wings let veteran Cam Talbot pursue greener pastures this summer, and Cossa makes Detroit’s roster out of training camp, Postava should assume the starting role in Grand Rapids. If his early signs are any indication of what’s to come, he should have no issue managing a heavier workload next year.
Red Wings Assign Jesse Kiiskinen To AHL
According to a team announcement, the Detroit Red Wings have assigned Finnish prospect Jesse Kiiskinen to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Kiiskinen will play the brief remainder of the 2025-26 regular season and Calder Cup playoffs with the Griffins.
In Scott Wheeler’s updated prospect rankings list on The Athletic, Kiiskinen clocked in as Detroit’s 15th-ranked prospect in a top-five farm system. He is one of the few on that list who wasn’t drafted under Steve Yzerman‘s regime.
Kiiskinen was drafted by the Nashville Predators with the 68th overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft. He was moved a year later in a peculiar trade with the Red Wings, who sent defensive prospect and recent second-round pick Andrew Gibson to the Predators for Kiiskinen and Tampa Bay’s 2024 second-round pick.
The jury is out on which team ultimately won the rare prospect-for-prospect trade, but the early returns are good for Detroit. Although Gibson has had a solid start to his AHL career, Kiiskinen tore up the Finnish Liiga with HPK the last two years.
During his age 19 and 20 seasons, Kiiskinen scored 31 goals and recorded 72 points in 100 games, achieving a +2 rating. For many North American fans unfamiliar with Finnish hockey, his breakout performance a few years ago at the IIHF World Junior Championships stands out. While playing for Team Finland, he scored six goals and recorded seven points in seven games, contributing to Finland’s silver medal finish in the tournament.
Still, as solid as his production in the Finnish professional circuit has been, he’ll have to continue that trajectory in Michigan. The Red Wings have a glut of forward prospects in the AHL with similar potential, with only so many spots on the roster. If he wants to get an edge on his coworkers, he’ll have to continue his impressive scoring pace.
John Gibson Leaves Due To Injury
In desperate need of a win to keep playoff hopes alive, the Nashville Predators will have to do so without a top player. Just before puck drop in Utah, the team shared that captain Roman Josi won’t play, listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
The news comes as a surprise, but Josi played just 15:31 on Tuesday against Anaheim, far below his team-leading 24:50 average usage. In his place comes Jordan Oesterle, who was recalled earlier in the week with Nicolas Hague also out.
Oesterle, 33, will make his season debut having played over 60 games in the AHL for the first time since 2014-15. As far as fill-in defenders go, teams can certainly do worse than the Michigan native and his over 400 games of NHL experience. Never known for offense at the NHL level, he’s put up 46 points in 65 games with the Milwaukee Admirals, good for second on the team and by far his highest output as a pro.
For Josi to miss such a critical game, it raises the question if he’ll have to miss more of the team’s three remaining contests. Until that’s determined, Nashville must march ahead in their quest to hold off the Kings for a spot in the postseason. They’d be rewarded with a matchup against the league’s top team in Colorado. It would be an unfavorable matchup, to say the least, but a nice ending nonetheless for retiring general manager Barry Trotz.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Top defender Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars left with an apparent lower body injury. He was listed as questionable by the team, but still has not returned, enough cause for concern. The superstar absorbed a routine hit from Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman, but as he fell down, his skate got caught and caused an awkward leg bend. As deep as Dallas is on the back-end, losing Heiskanen now would be devastating as they have a roster quite capable of hoisting the Stanley Cup this spring. It’s the worst fear of any top team in April. The 26-year-old leads all skaters with nearly 26 minutes a night, and fourth in team scoring with 63 points in 76 games. Still not officially ruled out, his status will be watched urgently for updates, as the Stars will be back on Saturday against the Rangers.
- Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson left tonight’s contest against the Flyers with an apparent injury, listed as questionable from the team, and didn’t return. Gibson was run into by Philadelphia’s Owen Tippett, ending his night after 30:40 in the crease, giving up two goals on 15 shots. It would take a relative miracle for the Wings to make the playoffs at this point, but they did themselves favors with a win tonight. Losing Gibson for an extended time could sink remaining hopes, as the 32-year-old has outperformed Cam Talbot all year. Often injured, Gibson has managed 54 games in his first season as a Red Wing, winning 28 of them with a 2.63 goals-against-average. He’ll hope to be back by Saturday, as Detroit hosts New Jersey.
- Pittsburgh Penguins forward Connor Dewar is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, per the team, and was unable to go against New Jersey. Playing without the 26-year-old for the first time this season, the Penguins still took care of business and officially clinched a playoff spot. In 78 games on the season, Dewar has enjoyed a breakout campaign with 14 goals and 30 points, career bests by a wide margin. He has quickly found a home in Pittsburgh, playing the highest minutes of his career and anchoring the penalty kill. With three games left, Dewar figures to be back in time for the playoffs, and could return as soon as Saturday against Washington.
Mehlenbacher Enters Transfer Portal For Second Straight Year
- Red Wings prospect Owen Mehlenbacher is entering the NCAA transfer portal, reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). The 22-year-old center was a seventh-round pick by Detroit back in 2022 and has played three college seasons so far. The first two were spent at Wisconsin where he managed 10 points in 51 combined games. This season, Mehlenbacher played at UMass after going through the portal last offseason, tallying three goals and six assists in 32 appearances. At this point, it seems unlikely that Detroit would want to sign Mehlenbacher based on how things have gone so far so he’ll be banking on finding a landing spot where he can have a big senior season.
Michael Rasmussen Leaves Due To Injury
The Calgary Flames revealed mid-game that Kevin Bahl would not return in Dallas due to a lower-body injury. Bahl went in to deliver a routine check on Thomas Harley, catching an edge badly on his right leg. He completed the hit but immediately favored his knee.
The 25-year-old is hardly a household name, but he’s been a steady presence in Calgary all year. Bahl leads all Flames skaters in ice time at 22:13 a night, serving as a top pairing minute-eater, playing in 75 games and missing just one to this point. His efforts are worthy of a long term extension in Calgary which was inked last June.
Hardly expected to drive offense, Bahl has set a career high with four goals as part of his 18 points across the campaign. His 46.8% corsi for at five-on-five is respectable considering the 6’6” lefty’s workload on a bottom feeding team.
Calgary will hope he’s back for a tall task on Thursday in Colorado, but firmly in the basement, the priority will be Bahl reaching full health as they look ahead to 2026-27.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Detroit Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen left against Columbus with a lower-body injury and won’t return, per the team. It’s not immediately clear what happened, but his night ended after 10 shifts at 7:57. Turning 27 in 10 days, it’s abundantly clear that the 6’6” center won’t live up to his 9th overall selection billing. However, Rasmussen has also struggled in a grinder role, even point totals (14) aside. With his Red Wings facing the likely disappointment of another year missing the playoffs, they could benefit from exploring a change of scenery for Rasmussen, but he’s signed for two more years at $3.2MM per season. Regardless, the British Columbia native will hope to be back for the team’s four remaining regular season games.
- The AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, affiliates of the Utah Mammoth, announced that their lease with the City of Tucson has been extended through 2027-28. Next season will mark a decade for the franchise in Arizona, coming over from Springfield, Massachusetts in 2016. Of course, the Roadrunners’ neighboring NHL club unfortunately departed their state two years ago. However, they thankfully remain as the primary professional hockey organization in Arizona, still adoring the classic former Coyotes color scheme as they develop the next members of the Mammoth, an NHL team also not far away geographically. The Roadrunners are currently 19th in the AHL this season, led by Ben McCartney, and supplemented by several standout prospects from Utah such as Dmitri Simashev.
Faulk, Appleton Game-Time Decisions
- After the Detroit Red Wings’ deflating loss to the New York Rangers yesterday, head coach Todd McLellan told the media that veteran defenseman Justin Faulk and forward Mason Appleton are both questionable to play in today’s game against the Minnesota Wild. Faulk did not play Saturday in New York as the result of an upper-body injury, while Appleton sat out Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury. Appleton’s fourth-line right wing role was taken on by veteran Dominik Shine yesterday. Jacob Bernard-Docker was elevated onto the second pairing to fill Faulk’s shoes, allowing rookie Axel Sandin-Pellika to draw back into the lineup.
Red Wings Sign Noah Dower-Nilsson
The Detroit Red Wings have signed prospect forward Noah Dower-Nilsson to a three-year entry-level contract, according to a team announcement. The deal is set to begin in the 2026-27 season.
Dower-Nilsson has spent the last two years playing for the senior team of Frölunda HC in the SHL. Frölunda fell to Luleå in six games in this year’s SHL quarterfinals, ending Dower-Nilsson’s season.
The Red Wings’ press release announcing the signing did not contain any language indicating Dower-Nilsson has signed any sort of tryout agreement to spend the rest of 2025-26 in the AHL with the playoff-bound Grand Rapids Griffins. Unless something changes, that would indicate the 20-year-old is likely to cross the Atlantic and make his North American debut later this year, rather than on a more immediate basis.
As previously mentioned, this season was Dower-Nilsson’s second as a full-time player in the pro ranks. He played in 35 games for Frölunda last season, scoring 10 points while averaging 10:49 time on ice per game. This season, Dower-Nilsson saw his ice time rise to 12:20 per game, and his production rose with it. He scored six goals and 16 points this season, and added four points in six games in the quarterfinal series loss to Luleå.
Although Dower-Nilsson was not ranked among the top 24 prospects in the Red Wings’ system by Elite Prospects entering the season, it appears he has taken a real step forward in his game. The outlet’s Swedish scout Jimmy Hamrin wrote in an early-season game report that “it looks like [Dower-Nilsson] has taken his game another step ahead.” Hamrin assigned Dower-Nilsson a middle-six NHL projection.
Before he can reach that point, though, he’ll likely need to begin by developing in Grand Rapids. The Red Wings have an extensive track record of success developing European prospects at the AHL level, and they will hope to continue that track record with Dower-Nilsson.