Though he may not be a household name just yet, Gustav Nyquist is one of the brightest rising stars in the NHL. The 25-year old rookie from Halmstad, Sweden is already shaping out to be a local 'Mo-Town' hero in just the onset of his career. Last season, Nyquist single-handedly willed the Red Wings into the playoff picture after they had been all but eliminated.
After spending a portion of the 2013-14 season on the Grand Rapids Griffins, the young play-maker was called up due to an influx of injuries that dismantled the Red Wings roster, and it turned out he was a pleasant surprise for the entire organization. Nyquist ended up playing 57 games with the Red Wings and notched a +20 rating. At one point in his half-season debut, Nyquist tallied 20 goals and 11 assists in just a 25 game stretch. It's safe to assume that if it wasn't for Nyquist's heroic performance, the Red Wings playoff hopes would have came to a halt long before the end of last season and the entire organization would have taken a completely different approach to last season's trade deadline.
Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are still the staples of the Red Wings offense, but Nyquist is quickly becoming a fan favorite in Detroit. He is currently tied with Justin Abdelkader with a team high five goals in just nine games played thus far, and make no mistake about it, Nyquist is one of the most exciting young players in all of hockey. The next generation of Red Wings hockey is starting to shine brightly, and the brightest star is of course - Mr. Gustav Nyqvist.
Like the New Jersey Devils, re-building for the Detroit Red Wings is a completely different process than a majority of other teams in the NHL. The Red Wings currently covet a playoff streak of 23 straight post-season appearances. Tie that in to an exciting young prospect pool down in Grand Rapids which features Anthony Mantha, Petr Mrazek and Dylan Larkin, and all signs point to the Detroit Red Wings being able to re-build while keeping their playoff streak alive and kicking.
The future is certainly bright for Hockey Town!
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