GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After dropping the first two games of their second-round Calder Cup Playoff series to the Chicago Wolves, the Detroit Red Wings’ AHL affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins have their backs against the wall. They’ll need to win three straight in the best-of-five series to extend their postseason run and earn more reps of intense playoff hockey.

But even six games into the playoffs, there has already been plenty to learn about which Red Wings prospects currently with the Griffins could be ready for NHL roles next season. Some are kicking down the door, and others are more straddling the line — while contract situations throw another wrench into things.

Here’s how the top prospects in Grand Rapids have looked, plus current projections for roles next season.

Note: Center prospect Nate Danielson is injured and thus not included here.

Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, RW

The Griffins’ playoff scoring leader with six points in six games, Brandsegg-Nygård has embraced every bit of postseason physicality.  And for a Red Wings team short on both offense and pugnacity, that makes him arguably the cleanest projection into next year’s lineup.

He finished the AHL regular season with 20 goals and 44 points in 60 games, and has continued that in the playoffs, all while hitting everything that moves.

“The playoffs, I think, (suit) him,” Red Wings assistant general manager Shawn Horcoff said recently. “The games get tighter, he’s a heavy body, guys just seem to bounce off him. He gets to the hard areas, he finishes all his checks, he can really shoot the puck, he gets to the net, he wins his 50-50 battles — like, all the things that you need in the playoffs to be successful, he seems to bring and it comes natural to him. Really encouraged by the way he’s playing.”

The question: is he ready to translate his AHL production to the NHL? He was only able to muster one assist in 14 NHL appearances in 2025-26, and while part of that is probably due to his deployment in Detroit, he’s still working at maximizing his booming shot — his best offensive trait.

“Trying to find those open areas, trying to read the play off of his linemates, and then being ready to shoot,” Griffins coach Dan Watson said in the first round of the playoffs. “Not over-handling it, just pulling the trigger. And if it’s not him scoring, he’s going to give someone else an opportunity. He’s got such a hard shot, a well-placed shot that goalies typically don’t make clean saves off of it, so something is going to happen off of that.”

Sure enough, in the Griffins’ most recent game (a 4-3 overtime loss on Saturday), Brandsegg-Nygård factored in on all three Griffins goals: putting a puck to the net from a bad angle and getting a friendly bounce for a goal, then twice ripping heavy shots that created rebound goals for his teammates. Sometimes, it’s that simple.

He can still stand to shoot it even more (he’s averaging two shots on goal a game these playoffs) and if he ends up with any more AHL time, that’d be my guess for why. But I don’t expect that to be the case. He looks ready for a full-time role in Detroit’s top nine.

Projected 2026-27 role: NHL third line

Carter Mazur, LW/RW

The Griffins (and Red Wings) are probably just glad to have Mazur playing right now after all the injuries he’s been through in recent seasons. But he’s doing more than that, leading them in goals with four in six games and taking pucks hard to the net. That’s what you want to see from a player who realistically would have already graduated from this level if healthy.

“Am I surprised at how well he’s playing? No, because he’s a hell of a player,” Horcoff said. “I think we all would have expected by this point for him, if he had not had injuries, to be a mainstay in the Red Wing lineup. And we still believe that he’s a player that can do that for us down the road. … This is his type of hockey. Competitiveness, and when the game gets harder and tighter, his hockey sense and his competitiveness shines through.”

Working in Mazur’s favor going forward is that he’ll lose waiver-exempt status next season. He’ll have to be on the Red Wings’ roster, assuming they sign him as a restricted free agent.

From there, it’ll be up to Mazur to win a spot in the lineup. His late-season stint in Detroit was just OK, but he had also only been back from injury for a few weeks when he got that call. Between this playoff run and the summer ahead, he should be in a better place to chase down a fourth-line role, where he could bring some jam and offense.

Projected 2026-27 role: NHL fourth line

Amadeus Lombardi, C/LW

Lombardi has spent most of the playoffs between Mazur and Brandsegg-Nygård (though Dominik Shine was in the latter’s place for the most recent game), and their line has been among the Griffins’ best. Lombardi has been part of that with his speed and skill, which makes a difference transporting pucks through the neutral zone and entering the offensive zone.

But some things that have kept him in the AHL in spite of those assets have also shown up. He lost track of his man on the game-winning goal in Game 1 of this series, and while he zipped around with the puck plenty in Game 2, it didn’t actually lead to many Grade-A chances for the Griffins. If anything, he probably overcomplicated things a bit, perhaps looking to make the perfect play.

Lombardi has clear talent, though, and like Mazur, he’s an RFA who will lose his waiver exemption next year. I would think the Red Wings re-sign him, but he’ll still have to make sure he’s ready to play the kind of game NHL hockey will demand.

“He had a great regular season,” Horcoff said. “For him it’s just going to be, at that size (listed 5-foot-11), in order to be successful in the postseason in the NHL, you’ve got to get to the hard areas, you’ve got to get the front of the net, you’ve got to win battles, you have to be able to defend against. And he’s gotten better in all those areas. He’s good through the neutral ice, he’s a really good skater, he’s shifty, he can beat you one-on-one.

“But I think again for him, it’s just going to be: how does he continue to learn and grow on being a successful player below the top of the circles in both ends?”

Projected 2026-27 role: NHL 13th forward / AHL top line

Axel Sandin-Pellikka, RHD

Sandin-Pellikka played 68 NHL games this season, but still ended up in Grand Rapids after the trade deadline, when Detroit acquired Justin Faulk. Now the question is what that means for him next year.

He certainly showed flashes in his time in Detroit, but the offense didn’t pop at the level you’d hope for a highly-touted offensive blue liner, and there were times he looked overmatched defensively. You can live with the latter if the offense is significant, but it wasn’t this past year.

So in these AHL playoffs, does he hone in on polishing the defense? Or work on getting the offense to that more special level? For the Red Wings, it’s not an either-or.

“We want both,” Horcoff said. “We all can see his offensive gifts. He’s got (a) great brain, nice set of hands on him, he’s a great passer, he shoots the puck great from the point. So of course we want to see him control the game when he’s out there. We want to see him run the power play well from the top, which again comes naturally to him. And then on the defensive side, he just has to continue to get better. … The benefit of him playing in the NHL this year is being exposed to what it takes to defend in the NHL.

“And as a young guy, there was some nights I thought he did really well, and then there was other nights where he got exposed a little bit. And that’s a good thing to happen, it’s natural. So for me, our big focus with him is the night-to-night consistency of defending hard and killing plays and just being responsible in your own end. And he knows that.”

He could end up as the most interesting decision come September. With the right summer growth, he can come into training camp and win the third-pair job. But will Detroit prefer that to a potential massive-minute role in Grand Rapids?

Projected 2026-27 role: NHL third pair

Anton Johansson, RHD

It’s impossible not to like Johansson’s traits as a 6-foot-4 righty who skates well, plays with an edge and gets plenty of shots to the net. He leads the Griffins in shots on goal these playoffs with 19, and he’s plenty willing to activate into the play.

What’s been really impressive, though, is Johansson’s improved risk-reward calculus this year as he picks his spots better.

“He’s not constantly trying to go out there and force offense,” Horcoff said. “To me that’s a sign of maturity, is he takes what’s given to him. If the first pass is there, he makes it. If someone needs to be beat, he thinks he can do it, he does it. I just like his overall game. He’s a big body that can skate, that’s physical, and he can move the puck pretty well and he’s starting to chip in with some offense for us.”

Johansson is still a bit skinny, and he’ll need to add more strength. That could be his biggest obstacle to winning an NHL job in September. But it wouldn’t shock me in the slightest if he pushes for NHL time at some point next season.

Projected 2026-27 role: AHL top pair, but a sneaky chance at NHL third pair

William Wallinder, LHD

Wallinder can be a forgotten prospect at times after three years in the AHL, but Horcoff made a fair point about him when we spoke: “You almost want him to be a guy that you don’t really notice too much at the end of the night.”

Wallinder has some real tools, standing 6-foot-4 with fluid skating, but he doesn’t put up much offense and doesn’t deliver many bone-crushing hits. That can make it easy for him to get lost in the shuffle, especially when his defense partner these playoffs has been Johansson, who plays maybe the loudest game of all the Griffins’ defensemen.

But their pair has been effective in high-stakes games, and Wallinder’s defending has been a real part of that.

“It’s funny,” Horcoff said, “The last two years, I think the games I’ve liked Wally the most has been in playoffs.”

Another player who will lose waiver exemption after this season, Wallinder would have to be on Detroit’s roster next season if they re-sign him as an RFA, or they’d be risking a 2020 second-round pick on waivers. I don’t see him displacing any of the Red Wings’ current left side as of now, which could mean being a seventh D to start. His path probably depends on tapping into his size more to kill as many plays as possible.

Projected 2026-27 role: NHL seventh or eighth ‘D’

Antti Tuomisto, RHD

I waffled on whether to count Tuomisto as a prospect, considering he’s a couple months older than Moritz Seider. He’s actually eligible to become a Group 6 UFA this summer, as a 25-year-old with less than 80 NHL games played. With Detroit having three NHL RHD signed for next year, plus Sandin-Pellikka and Johansson on the way, he would be signing up for a very crowded field if he were to stick around.

But I’m including him here because he had a great season, he’s playing on the Griffins’ top pair ahead of both Johansson and Sandin-Pellikka, and Horcoff had a lot of praise for him when we spoke.

“I think Antti Tuomisto’s played excellent for us,” he said. “I know he’s a guy that’s been there for a while, he’s paid his dues, but I think you’re finally starting to see the type of player that he can be. He’s poised now, he’s worked on his skating a lot here in the last few years, and that’s starting to come, and you can see him being more comfortable in the hard areas. He’s just a smart player, and I think his play has been very, very good for us.”

I don’t know if that will be enough to earn an NHL deal, especially considering the crowded right side. Keeping him in Detroit as a seventh or eighth D would probably require the Red Wings to send both Sandin-Pellikka and Johansson to Grand Rapids. But he’s had a good year, and they seem to like him.

Projected 2026-27 role: AHL top pair

Sebastian Cossa and Michal Postava

I wrote in-depth on Postava’s playoff run last week, and he’s become a fascinating factor in the Red Wings’ goalie pipeline.

Still, the biggest looming question is on Cossa. I asked Horcoff how the 2021 first-round pick was handling the situation and where he stands going forward.

“Well, Coss has played great too,” Horcoff said. “I mean, he had a fantastic season as well. I think for Coss, Postava’s just played so well that he’s kind of kept the net right now. And Cossa’s attitude is he’s working hard, he’s been fantastic actually. He knows, at some point — hopefully we go on a long run, and more likely than not that he’s going to get an opportunity, and when he does he’s going to be ready to make the most of it.

“So I think we feel, as a team — certainly know the players do, and the coaching staff — that we’re fully confident in both guys. It’s just Michal played so well down the stretch that he earned the start and just hasn’t given it up. For us, right now, it’s a good problem to have.”

I spoke to Horcoff prior to the start of the Chicago series, and now down 2-0, the odds of that long run are shrinking. Could the Griffins go to Cossa in Game 3? Postava did allow four goals in a game for the first time all season on Saturday, including one (or maybe two) he’d want back. And while he’s been generally excellent in these playoffs, he’s also played six straight games now, after being the No. 2 in the regular season.

There’s a sense Cossa could become a trade candidate this summer, and it’s hard to argue the logic. But would it be so shocking if Cossa simply backed up John Gibson next year in Detroit, while Postava and Trey Augustine split the net in Grand Rapids? That’s still one possible outcome here.