Red Wings Prospect Sets up Winner in Champions League Victory
Champions Hockey League play got under Friday in Europe and two Detroit Red Wings prospects were enjoying differing fortunes during the same game.
Champions Hockey League play got under Friday in Europe and two Detroit Red Wings prospects were enjoying differing fortunes during the same game.
Skelleftea began CHL competition with a close 4-3 victory over Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg. With less than two minutes to play in regulation, right-winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Detroit’s top pick in the 2024 NHL entry draft (15th overall) sent a cross-ice pass to Andreas Johnson. He would tuck home his second goal of the game to give Skelleftea the win.
That was the good news for Skelletea and the Red Wings. The bad news is a concerning situation involving Detroit 2023 first-round pick (17th overall) Axel Sandin Pellikka.
In his first game back from an undisclosed injury, Sandin Pellikka’s day would last a paltry 2:38 before he was exiting from the game. The belief is that the defenseman once more aggravated whatever’s been keeping him out of action during the SHL preseason.
It’s unclear whether Sandin Pellikka will be able to play in Skelleftea’s next CHL game on Sunday against Germany’s Straubing Tigers.
Red Wings Prospect Nets Penalty Shot Goal
Meanwhile, back in Sweden, another Red Wings draftee was lighting the red lamp in impressive fashion. Left-winger Charlie Forslund (176th overall, 2024) netted a penalty shot goal for Mora IK. The tally came during a Swedish J20 match in which Mora fell 6-5 in a shootout to MoDo Hockey.
The Red Wings would discover Forslund last year playing for Falu IF in HockeyEttan, Sweden’s third division. Joining Mora, he’s following the same path that Brandsegg-Nygard took last season.
“You start thinking this could be something that could be potentially real good for us down the road,” Red Wings assistant GM and director of amateur scouting Kris Draper said. “We like where he’s going into Mora and that’s going to be important development-wise.
“Picking someone like Charlie, he’s someone who’s kind of been off the radar and all of a sudden is starting to play. Going into a good organization, he’ll continue to develop.”
