MBN: Griffins Hero! and Detroit Needs to Pick a Lane ft. Prashanth Iyer - May 20th, 2026
5/21/20261 hr 26 min
This Detroit Red Wings (and currently Grand Rapids Griffins) podcast breaks down Michael Brandsegg-Nygard's heroics, Red Wings offseason direction with Prashanth Iyer as the Wings figure out how to actually build a contender. News and analysis covers Simon Edvinsson's contract, Sebastian Cossa's future, and MBN saving the Griffins' season with an all-time overtime goal.
(00:00) - Intro
Sentience watch in Detroit and why one Griffins prospect might be ready to wake the lineup up.
(03:55) - Prashanth Iyer on the Red Wings Season
A 10,000-foot look at what happened - overperformance through December, the March collapse, and the 5-on-5 scoring problem that buried the team.
(07:00) - Picking an Offseason Lane
The case for committing one direction: aggressive trades to build around Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, and Alex DeBrincat, or hitting the reset button before Larkin turns 31.
(15:55) - Potential Trade Targets
Josh Norris, William Nylander, Mikey Anderson, Robert Thomas, and Elias Pettersson - who actually moves the needle and who carries the most risk.
(20:20) - Free Agent Options
Alex Tuch's pointless 2nd round and the contract conversation, plus thoughts on Bobby McMann as a speed-adding fit.
(23:50) - Simon Edvinsson Contract
Bridge vs. eight-year max term, why the cap going up bakes in the hedge, and the Jaccob Slavin comparison for locking up a unicorn early.
(31:20) - Sebastian Cossa's Future
Waiver-exempt status is gone - what that does to his trade value and whether he's actually ready to be an NHL backup next year.
(36:10) - Griffins Stay Alive
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard's filthy overtime winner keeps the Calder Cup hopes breathing, plus huge goals from Carter Mazur, John Leonard, and more as Postava hangs on.
(43:55) - Habs-Sabres Game 7 and Conference Finals Predictions
Alex Newhook's overtime winner, UPL's nerves, and why the Atlantic Division just got even harder for Detroit. Plus, Carolina vs. Montreal and Colorado vs. Vegas - rust, rest, and which underdog has the better shot.
(56:20) - Prospect Profiles: Ivar Stenberg and Thomas Vandenberg
The case for Stenberg over Gavin McKenna at first overall and why his SHL production is the real deal. Vandenberg: The Athletic mocked him to Detroit at 47 - a perfect Steve Yzerman type, which may be exactly the problem.
(1:10:30) - Overtime Mailbag
Patreon questions and comments: What if Jakub Vrana panned out, waiving roster vets, and which Red Wing gets a video-game stat boost.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
[upbeat music] Welcome to the Winged Wheel podcast, the number one source for news, analysis, and discussion on the Detroit Red Wings, the NHL, and all things hockey. Here are your hosts, Ryan Hanna, Brad Krysko, and Evan Lopsinger.
Ryan Hanna· Host0:23
Under the post about MBN scoring that unbelievable goal to keep the Griffins and our hopes alive last night, there [laughs] was a response from someone saying, this is from dotfm. They said, "He's ready," and in parentheses they wrote, "Please Todd, put him with players who are sentient." [laughs] And like it's just the simplest statement, but that's where we're at right now with the Red Wings, where it's just like, "Hey, are they aware of their own existence?" [laughs] Can they consider, can they contemplate their own reality right now? Do they know that they're alive? When they look in the mirror, are they like, "What the hell is that?" Or are they like, "Hey, it's me, Michael Rasmussen"?
Speaker 31:10
No. No, they're not.
Ryan Hanna· Host1:13
He's s- you know, some teams are talking about a healthy scratching a guy who'd be like a second line center on a lot of other teams in the league, and some teams are talking about sentience for their, their important prospects, so that's about where we're at right now.