Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Todd McLellan Post Game vs. TOR | Oct 4, 2025

Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Todd McLellan Post Game vs. TOR | Oct 4, 2025

Actually, do you feel like you showed them everything we wanted to personally in this game? Um, yeah, we’ll see. Uh, I haven’t really thought about the game that much. I’m happy we won. Uh, good crowd out there. So, uh, it was a fun game to play. How much did you enjoy all the power play time you got tonight? Um, yeah, it’s fun. Like, um, you know, getting the opportunity to play that here is, uh, it’s a good experience for me. Uh, little free apple today from, uh, from Michael. Uh, so that was pretty nice. Uh, so it’s fun. What are the emotions like for you just over the next 48 hours not knowing exactly where you’re going to be playing to start the year? I have no clue. Uh we’ll see. Um probably won’t get that much sleep. Uh I just think about what will happen. Um I’m ready for whatever and we’ll see what happens. You and Michael talk about it much? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. What do you what do you just uh like you want to make the team obviously uh and yeah just nervous uh what’s going to happen and ready for whatever. Probably not a surprise to you how well he has played. Uh no, not at all. He’s uh he’s an awesome player. Um you know, just keep feeding him in the power play and we’ll get some apples. Regardless of what happens here, what whatever decision they make, you have to feel good that you showed what of what you showed them here in your first preseason camp. Uh yeah, of course. I mean, I felt like the defensive part got a little better. Uh there’s still some flaws. Uh I got to work on. Uh but, uh overall, I’m I’m happy with my play here. See your lockers next to Mo over there. How much during the preseason were you picking his brain and asking him things or were you just kind of letting it play out? Um yeah, he he’s obviously a great player, lots of experience. Uh so, um yeah, he has told me some small thing like on the power play, what to do and those kinds of stuff. So, uh, you know, it’s fun to, uh, like follow a guy like him. You feel like you’ve shown them everything you wanted to in this camp and preseason? Yeah, I would say so. H, how would you assess the back and forth of tonight’s game and for the group to be able to pull it out like it did? Say it one more time. How do you assess tonight’s game and for the the group to be able to pull the game out like you guys did? I mean, a come out like that builds the team. Uh was a good job of us in the last period and I mean So what are you going to do these next two days, Michael? Are you going to think much about this? Is going to be pretty anxious or what? Probably. I uh know we’re going to be with the team now tonight and probably have a meeting or something tomorrow or day off. I don’t know. We’ll see. Probably not a surprise to you how well Axel has played, right, with his skill set? No, it doesn’t. I mean, he’s a great player and I play with him a lot and I know what he’s capable of and pretty good. So, I think he’s played good. He said he knows if he gets you the puck, he’s going to get a lot of assists, but I guess you know if you get open, he’s going to find you. Yeah. I mean, I can say the same back. He has a hell of a shot. So, he’s a good player, too, too. The other day, he made a nice uh setup right there from the front of the net, and today he scored right at the net front. just how comfortable you feel in that uh area there. I mean, feel like I played hockey for a whole life, so I know where the net is. And uh I don’t know. I mean, uh I’m just trying to do my best and yeah, I don’t know. He Axel said you and he talk about this a lot about making a team or not making the team. Is it uh nerve-wracking? Oh, yeah. Couldn’t sleep last night. So me and Phil was talking and yeah just trying to make the team. I mean it’s both of us dreams to be here. So I mean it would be meant a lot to make the team and player this year. How how different is your comfort level tonight compared to the first day of training camp? It grows. I mean, you get more uh known of the players here and the guys and uh I mean just get more and more comfortable as long the season goes like every season. So yeah, I just feel like I’m getting better and better. Todd, has MBN earned a spot on the team or what more could he have done? Um not much more. He’s, you know, every night he just keeps getting better and better and has an impact on the game obviously. um yes scoring but even his heaviness and his uh his grind component to his game is something we appreciate. So he’s done a really really good job. And Cindy Pelica just what he can do. He showed tonight on the power play. That’s uh these are all good problems to have, aren’t they? Um I’m really happy with with all three of the kids. We may as well bundle them all up and put them in in a package. They’ve all uh competed from day one till now. They’ve all improved. Their confidence level has gone up. The group has been very accepting of them. They uh they believe that the three of them can can help the group, which is always a good sign. And um you know, they they’ve uh opened up some eyes. And just how much uh how important is it just for kind of keeping veterans on their toes too? I mean, jobs are at stake and they’ve certainly Yeah. You know what? It it that’s the the tough part of the game. Like, these are good people. Um, human beings with families and stuff like that. And nobody uh nobody wants to lose their job. Nobody came to camp to give it away. Uh but sometimes evolution just happens and and um you know if those three are here to start um that means that three probably aren’t or two whatever it might be the number. Um but that’s why you have training camp. You can’t take anything for granted and eventually um you know you get you get pushed out. um you know the big line the the baby line takes over from the big line and it’s just it’s just how it is. You said they’re good problems but still problems at this point where you have to make some tough decisions. What do the next 48 hours or so look like for you? What is the the final step of this process? Well, for for me, for our our staff and you know, we’ve discussed a lot of things. Um, and Steve and I have worked um, you know, and Sean Horoff and his group have worked really close together with what we’re thinking. Um, you know, why we like certain players and pairs or combinations of players and um, you know, we’ll get a complete injury report uh, tonight and we’ll have a day off tomorrow and then Monday’s a big day for us where we’ve got to figure out where we start. Now, what happens on Monday doesn’t necessarily mean that’s going to be what happens on Thursday. Thursday. So, I think everybody’s going to be waiting for, hey, what are the the Wings and every other team in the league doing Monday. Um, sometimes business and the execution of getting your roster in um takes a little more time and you got to buy days doing different different things. So, um, you know, we we feel like we have, uh, some time to make those decisions. Todd, you mentioned, uh, MBN’s just the grind that he plays with. When a guy like that, a young guy coming up, uh, has that kind of a physical element, kind of a fearless type element to his game, how much does that help just with the transition of to the NHL? Well, he’s a man. Um, you know, you look at him when you he walks around. I know you’ve all seen him in the locker room or talked to him personally and he’s a man. He he’s thick, he’s heavy, he’s uh you know, he’s not him and EMTT Finny are two different body types and um right now uh Brance is the is way closer to being a man. That that’s not anything against EMTT, but he’s just heavier. He’s stronger. he’s um he’s more uh he’s probably better equipped to play that heavier grinding game and he uses what what God gave him and he uses it well. So, um credit to him. I know you talked about it not being all about scoring, but when you see him produce from those intight areas where you guys have needed more offense like how much does that kind of register for you? Yeah, you know, you think about the the goals he’s scored throughout camp, he’s been able to score from distance because he got such a heavy shot. uh yet he’s found his way into the the dirty areas and and he doesn’t leave. He stays in there until the the play dies. Um you know, so that’s a you know, that’s a sign of a fearless player in my opinion. He’s not not anxious to get out of there. He stays in and burrows in that area, if you will, um and finds ways to to find the net. Tad, how much do you know of these three kids? I mean, just basically what Steve and Horov told you. I mean, do you have any sort of expectations heading into camp? Um, well, we, you know, we’d heard obviously about them. So, when we got here, it was so overwhelming with just trying to figure out the names of the players that were on the roster. The last thing we were doing was looking at what was coming. And as the year went on, we had more time to talk about the organization. We got to know some of the players, but just verbally, not it’s way different when you visually see them. At the end of the year, um, we got to go to Grand Rapids. Uh, unfortunately, they didn’t play long, so we saw a game. Um, and that was really it. Development camp, uh, different type of hockey. They’re learning. They’re not really, um, in real competitive situations. It’s all about teaching and learning things. So, you get to know the players a little bit there. And that then at training camp, this is what it’s been all about to um, you know, their job to impress. And they’ve done their job, our job to pay attention. And I hope we’ve done that and um we’ll see where it all goes. Any any concern with John Gibson’s night or just something to shake up? Well, you know what? His the the opportunities they had and they scored on were great ace like breakaway short-handed walking down Main Street on two ones. Um I didn’t I wasn’t overly impressed with the way our team played tonight. Um that can often happen at that last game. Um, it’s interesting listening to Tangs talk. He goes, “That was me. I got into that last game and I knew I had to play it, but I wanted to get out of it healthy. I wanted to feel good. I wanted to get home and get ready for the week.” And I think we had some of those players uh dressed tonight. So, it’s unfair to to to target Gibby. Um, the stuff we gave up was uh there was a lot of great A’s there. He what he saved her bacon in the third. I think Lark’s thought he was playing for the Leafs there for a second and and fed one into the slot and he he made a save. So, um it’s hard to chalk it all up, but um obviously we we all have to be better um from Thursday on. Big picture looking back on preseason in camp, were you pleased with what this group was able to accomplish and what you guys were able to instill over the last couple weeks? Well, I I was happy with the execution of camp, the the timing and the, you know, the way it laid out. Um, I I thought that the staffs, the training medical uh video, everybody did an outstanding job. New coaching staff comes in, it’s not easy. No one’s been through it before. And um we have really good people back there that made it run smoothly. Players did their thing. Um the bonding part of it, I think, has been real good. uh it’s carried over from uh Traverse City and and Grand Rapids to to Detroit now. Um and the ability to get back to some structural things um as a team has it it’s existed. Now we just we really have to polish things up and the proof will be in the pudding as we as we enter the regular season. Everybody else that had training camp, I’m sure they think it went well, too. So, we’re all getting into the starting gate and the gun’s going to go off. Todd, obviously we’re talking about the three youngsters because of what we think maybe they can do and help you um this year in the team, but what about what they bring to the team like changing the you know bring some freshness energy? What what’s the impact they could have in that regard? Well, they’re they’re energ they’re energizing the group right now really like um you know we started Axen in overtime. We we put Finny out in the second pair and and the the the guys are rooting for them. there’s a little life there that they get excited for him and and sometimes that takes you back to your first year, your first game. Maybe you’re Ben Sherrod or Dylan Larkin, pardon me. Um, and you’ve played so many years, but it can take you back and you remember what it was like and it’s it’s invigorating. Um, so they’ve done a real good job of that and um, it hasn’t been easy for them either. Like we forget that they’re they’re going back to the hotel. They’re exhausted. They’ve played seven of eight games. Um, and with that exhaustion becomes there’s nervousness, too. They lay down in bed, they don’t know where am I going to make it, am I not going to make it, where do I fit in? Their phone at home, everybody, their buddies are calling them. Like, there’s a lot of of that anxiety that exists and and maybe when they come to the rink, they let it all go and they play. So, we want them to be comfortable. And I I think our guys have done a good job of helping them. Nick was in the conversation, too, to make the Is he like where is he at in his He’s uh it’s a good question. I haven’t got an update. Um but he’s not uh prepared to play at all for for a little bit. Um I would be I’d be misleading you and everybody else if I said it’s two weeks or or three weeks. I don’t know. Uh but he’s not ready to play yet.

Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, and Todd McLellan speak with the media following Detroit’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday October 4, 2025.