There's much to work on for the Detroit Red Wings, with one victory after six games, but they seem to have found a trio that clicks.
Emmitt Finnie's line with fellow 21-year-old Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and veteran Alex DeBrincat is the reason the Wings are on a two-game point streak, meager as that is. DeBrincat had two goals and an assist and Finnie and Brandsegg-Nygard each had a goal and an assist as the Wings settled for a point on Tuesday, Oct. 13, falling 5-4 in overtime to the New Jersey Devils.
The coaching staff put the three together four games ago. DeBrincat leads the team with eight points, and Brandsegg-Nygard is next with five. Finnie has three points.
"Finns, with his speed, we weren't sure that Finns would grasp the center ice
position right away," coach Todd McLellan said. "He's been trained as a winger in the league, but we believe he's a center. Nygs has played really well. He's been a bully and shoots the puck and so does Cat. So the speed with two shooters, some tenacity – it's worked for us so far. They were hands down, by a country mile, our best line tonight."
Finnie, a seventh-round pick from 2023 (No. 201 overall) played center in juniors, but was a wing in his rookie year last season, working his way up to the top line and appearing in all 82 games (13 goals, 17 points). Brandsegg-Nygard, drafted at No. 15 in 2024, made the team out of camp in 2025-26, but struggled to find his footing and appeared in just 14 games (one assist).
This season, Brandsegg-Nygard has figured out how to make an impact.
"Part of being ready is not just physical, because he was pretty close to being that last year," McLellan said. "But I do believe he's moving his weight and his heaviness around the rink way better this year. I think part of that is fitness, but the other part is confidence and feeling like he belongs.
"I've said that before. He's probably given himself permission to be here. I'd like to see some of those other kids finally give themselves permission to be here. They can't play apprehensive. Emmitt did it last year. Brands is doing it this year, potentially Anton [Johansson] so far, but there's some that have been pros now for a while. If they give themselves permission, we'll have better players."
It's a lesson the Wings hope Nate Danielson, their pick at No. 9 overall in 2023, in will embrace, a message sent by making him a healthy scratch on Tuesday.
It was the second straight game the Wings lost past regulation, and again they didn't get much out of their top line of Dylan Larkin, Viktor Arvidsson and Lucas Raymond. Arvidsson, though, has three goals, all of them on power plays. Larkin has one goal and one assist after four games, having missed the first two while injured. Raymond has four assists.
"Couldn't get a lot going," McLellan said of their performance Tuesday. "I think Dylan is skating his way back into his skin, I guess you could say. With his injury, he didn't skate, he didn't train a lot because he couldn't. For him to be effective, he needs his legs going at a real good pace. Arvy is trying to figure out a new team and new teammates. He's been able to produce, particularly on the power play. Razor - we've got to get Razor going. There's no doubt about it. We 100% need him to perform at his best level."
With Marco Kasper, J.T. Compher and Mason Appleton all injured since the second game, the Wings have resorted to using 11 forwards and seven defensemen multiple times. It can be challenging to distribute minutes, especially so in a game like Tuesday, when the Wings were desperate for offense.
They were down 1-0 when Finnie connected on a stretch pass from Brandsegg-Nygard for a top-shelf goal.
"I think we've been working pretty well together as a line," Finnie said. "Cat's been making lots of plays and, you know, Brands has been heavy on the forecheck which has been leading to lots of O-zone time for us."
Brandsegg-Nygard made it 2-1 early in the second period when he ripped a pass from Finnie.
"We're trying to play direct and play with speed," Brandsegg-Nygard said. "Finn and Cat are pretty fast players and quick with everything So it makes it easy for me and hopefully I make it makes it easy for them, too."
DeBrincat made it 3-3 when he fired a shot from just inside the blue line and took advantage of Brandseg-Nygard screening New Jersey's goalie.
"My first goal, Brands is sitting in front of the net, and that's the only reason it goes in," DeBrincat said. "I think the speed they have, and those guys work so hard. We get a lot of pucks back. Brands and Finnie are both playing the body, getting pucks, moving it up, and then we're able to create in the O-zone."
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Red Wings have a lot of problems, but they found a trio that clicks
