Red Wings Emergency Recall Brings Top Prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygard from Griffins

The Detroit Red Wings recalled forward Michael Brandsegg‑Nygård from the Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions Saturday after captain Dylan Larkin exited Friday’s 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers with a lower-body, non-contact leg/groin injury. Coach Todd McLellan said after the game, “the first report indicated it was not a long-term injury,” and the team moved to add depth as Larkin continued to be evaluated.

The team’s roster release stated, “The Detroit Red Wings today recalled forward Michael Brandsegg‑Nygård from the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions.” Brandsegg‑Nygard, 20, is a 6-foot-1, 204-pound right winger from Oslo, Norway, who was Detroit’s first-round pick, 15th overall, in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and became the first Norwegian-born first-round selection in NHL history.

Brandsegg‑Nygard has already logged NHL minutes this season, skating in nine games to begin the 2025-26 campaign. His NHL line reads one assist, two penalty minutes, 14 shots on goal, 28 hits and a 12:27 average time on ice in those nine appearances before he was reassigned to Grand Rapids on Oct. 27. With the Griffins this season he has played 50 games and compiled 16 goals and 21 assists for 37 points, a plus-24 rating, 32 penalty minutes and 121 shots on goal.

Grand Rapids emphasized Brandsegg‑Nygard’s red-hot stretch entering the call-up: he has nine points, 6-3—9, in his last five games and was named the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending March 1 after tallying five goals, six points and a plus-3 rating in three games. Local coverage noted a related surge, reporting “Before being blanked in Grand Rapids’ 3-2 road loss to the Cleveland Monsters, MBN had netted eight goals in seven games. The Norwegian winger has 32 shots on goal in his past eight games.”

The recall also reflects narrow forward depth in Detroit after the trade deadline. ProHockeyRumors pointed out that with only 12 forwards rostered after deadline moves and veteran David Perron sidelined while recovering from sports-hernia surgery, the club needed available wing depth. PHR noted, “With no more roster limit in effect, no corresponding move is required, nor does he count toward one of Detroit’s five allotted post-deadline standard recalls.”

Brandsegg‑Nygard’s résumé includes professional experience in Scandinavia and international flashes: he debuted as a 16-year-old with Vålerenga, spent 2024-25 with Skellefteå AIK in the SHL (11 points and 51 penalty minutes in 42 regular-season games, plus six postseason points), and produced four assists and a tournament-high 29 penalty minutes in five games at the 2025 IIHF World Championship. The recall gives Detroit a chance to reintegrate a 20-year-old who impressed in training camp, earned an opening-night roster look and is arriving in Detroit on the heels of sustained AHL scoring that could translate into NHL playing time if Larkin’s evaluation forces an absence for Sunday’s trip opener in New Jersey.