Connect with us

Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings Land Four Among Top 50 NHL Prospects

Published

on

Nate Danielson, Grand rapids Griffins

A recent ranking of NHL prospects suggests the Detroit Red Wings find more than their fair share of quality youngsters, although none are among the best of the best.



The Red Wings landed five players in EP Rinkside’s top 100 prospects, and four listed in the top 50. But Detroit didn’t have a single player ranked in top 25. Detroit’s highest-ranked prospect is Norwegian forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygard at 35th. The Red Wings drafted him 15th in the 2024 draft.

Others in the top 50: Slick defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka (17th overall in 2023) at 37th, hard-edged center Marco Kasper (Eighth overall in 2022) at 47th and skillful Nate Danielson (Ninth overall in 2023) at 50th.

The San Jose Sharks are the only other NHL team with more prospects than Detroit in the top 50. They boast five led by Macklin Celebrini at No. 1 and Will Smith at 10th. Quentin Musty is 15th, while Sam Dickinson was 21st and Igor Chernyshov at 45th.

EP Rinkside didn’t include Detroit defenseman Simon Edvinsson for the prospect list because he has already played 25 games with the Red Wings.

California native defenseman Shai Buium (drafted 36th overall), ranked 88th, was the only Detroit player ranked from 51-100. He will play for the Grand Rapids Griffins this season.

Twenty-eight of the 32 teams had at least one player ranked in the top 50.

Both Kasper and Danielson probably have a chance to play some games at the NHL level this season. Brandsegg-Nygard is supposed to play with Sandin Pellikka in Skelleftea (Swedish Hockey League) this season. However, Brandsegg-Nygard has said he expects to be at Detroit’s training camp.

Carter Mazur could have been on this list in the 50-100 range, especially given how well he performed in the second half of last season.