Michael Brandsegg-Nygard | 2024 NHL Draft profile and analysis
For the 2024 draft, TSLH Prospects offers you exclusive content prepared following numerous prospect viewings. Between now and the NHL Draft, TSLH will be sharing profiles of NHL prospects as well as its final rankings of the top prospects in the 2024 Draft.
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Michael Brandsegg-Nygard is possibly the prospect I’ve liked the most all season. He’s a prospect who’s projected towards the middle of the first round for the 2024 draft. At 6’1 and 198 pounds, the Norwegian not only has the size, but also the profile to play professionally fairly quickly. In fact, he didn’t stay long in the Swedish J20 this season. After a few games, he was promoted to the Allsvenskan, Sweden’s 2nd division adult professional league. Limited to a secondary role during the season, he broke through offensively around the World Junior Championship. In the end, he was his team’s best player in the playoffs.
Admittedly, the Allsvenskan is a somewhat “soft” league and the calibre is a bit far from the SHL. Nevertheless, Brandsegg-Nygard made no secret of his style of play. He hit along the ramps and made an immediate impact within his trio. Internationally, he also retained this DNA no matter what the calibre in WJC and Division 1 World Championships. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard is truly a prospect hard not to like. Especially as his style of play approaches that of North American professional field hockey.
Draft profile – 2024 NHL Draft
The Norwegian forward has progressed superbly this season in Sweden. Already, his profile is quite attractive due to the great combination of scorer and power forward he offers. His progress in the Allsvenskan can therefore only be satisfactory. In J20, he was the star of the club. In the Allsvenskan, he was limited to a secondary role and contributed really well. In the playoffs, he was one of the best players in his squad. And internationally with Norway, he was dragging the club along on his shoulders with few resources around him.
An elite shot
Brandsegg-Nygard has one of the best shots in this draft. He’s quick, powerful and can unleash it without warning. His wrist shot is superbly accurate too. Brandsegg-Nygard could be that type of player who parks himself on the wing and just takes his shot. However, in the Allsvenskan, he was very often stationed in the slot or directly in the goalkeeper’s face. Not only did he score goals by collecting rebounds, but he was also very good at fighting defenders hand-to-hand, escaping to offer himself as an option and taking quality shots from the slot. Brandsegg-Nygard is also a player who can deliver solid shoulder checks. The Allsvenskan is not such a physical league, but Brandsegg-Nygard still commanded respect along the ramps by checking opponents or initiating contact to protect the puck afterwards. Defensively, he picks up pucks and is part of the battle along the boards. He is very effective in his zone, and was even more so in the Allsvenskan than in the J20.
In the NHL soon?
Offensively, he’s constantly looking for the right space to work, both with and without the puck. Overall, he has good vision, but I see him more as a power forward with a good shot than a playmaker from scratch. His skating may need improvement. He keeps pace in the Allsvenskan, but it’s not a super-fast league. I think that if he gets more explosive, he’ll easily be able to outflank defenders or attack the center even more threateningly, since he protects the puck very well. At least he’s not a linear skater. He exploits the center of the ice well, with or without the puck. However, he needs to improve his creativity in the neutral zone. Transitions aren’t always effective in his case. All in all, he’s a player I can easily see on a 2nd or 3rd trio in the NHL, as well as being able to play in front of the net or on the left side in PP. His style brings him very close to the NHL already at a young age.
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