Tagged: Grand Rapids Griffins

14Nov

Danny DeKeyser(55) Detroit Red Wings

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danny-dekeyser

Detroit Red Wings‘ undrafted rookie defenseman Danny DeKeyser(55) had quite a 2012/2013.

He started the season in his third year of college hockey with Western Michigan University Broncos.

After completing their schedule, he signed a two-year entry level deal forgoing his final school campaign and joined the Red Wings to finish their lockout shortened schedule.

In 11 games he recorded his first point, an assist and appeared in a pair of playoff contests but was sidelined with a fractured thumb then moved on again.

The highly touted 6’3″ 190 lbs. blue liner was reassigned to continue his early development with minor league affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins.

He arrived just in time for the 2013 Calder Cup Finals‘ series vs. Syracuse Crunch.

In 6 AHL playoff games he put up another assist in the winning effort to help capture the Championship for the first time in team history.

The 23-year old started his official rookie season on the NHL opening night roster and has played in all 19 games so far, netting his first tally and picking up 5 assists with a +6 rating.

His contract is up at the end of the current season but he’ll likely score himself a nice sized extension, continue to look forward to improve his overall game and be one tough d-man to match up against.

08Nov

Adam Almquist(5) Detroit Red Wings

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Adam Almquist

2nd year Detroit Red Wings‘ 7th round pick in the 2010 draft (#210 overall), Swedish-born defenseman Adam Almquist(5) scores his first NHL recall from the minors. He scored his first big league goal in his second appearance.

He skated 50 shifts over the pair of appearances and average almost 17 minutes of playing time with 2 shots on net and a -1 rating.

The 5’11” 178 lbs. d-man won a 2013 Calder Cup with Grand Rapid Griffins in his rookie campaign. He also put up 3 goals and 7 assists in 21 playoff contests after scoring 10 goals and 21 assists in 68 games during the regular season. His combined +18 plus/minus for a smaller blue liner was also a nice stat.

He impressed pretty well in training camp and was in a group of last cuts to be reassigned.

He’s signed to a three-year entry level deal but that included a season he only played in 3 AHL games after finishing up his final run in the SHL, so this is the last of his initial contract. He already has 7 assists in 10 games with the Griffins.

The 22-year old will almost certainly get qualified, if not be offered a 2-year extension to stay in the system.

01Nov

Brett Skinner(24) Norfolk Admirals

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Brett Skinner

9th year veteran defenseman Brett Skinner(24) interestingly signed with the Central Hockey League Allen Americans, eventual President’s Cup winners, after returning from a couple of seasons overseas. Two years ago he ended up playing for teams in Germany, Finland and Sweden, but in the season before that one he played a full campaign in the KHL.

He put up some pretty impressive numbers in the lower league, skating 27 games, scoring 7 goals and 30 assists with a +4 rating.

Grand Rapids Griffins swooped in and signed him to a pto half way through 2012/2013. They upped that to a standard players contract in short order and their season culminated 100 games later as the 2013 Calder Cup Champs.

The 6’1″ 195 lbs. blue liner was originally a Vancouver Canucks‘ 3rd round pick in the 2002 draft (#68 overall) but only played a single year in their system before bouncing around with a few AHL teams until he signed in the off-season of 2008 with New York Islanders for a spell, played his only 11 NHL games with them. The next season he scored some fairly decent numbers reassigned to minor league affiliate Lake Erie Monsters while under contract with Colorado Avalanche.

Probably helped him get some decent money in Russia.

At 30 years old with his new team Norfolk Admirals, he already has three assists in 7 games. His AHL stats are pretty amazing at 369 games (and counting) 28 goals and 151 assists.

It’s all about the break out pass.

15Oct

Brian Lashoff(32) Detroit Red Wings

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Brian Lashoff

4th year, undrafted defenseman Brian Lashoff(32) split 2012/2013 up with the big club, Detroit Red Wings and their farm team.

He appeared in 31 NHL games post lockout and all three playoff contests before being reassigned to help Grand Rapids Griffins capture their first Calder Cup Championship.

With his 3-year entry level deal expiring, the sturdy 6’3″ 213 lbs. blue liner was signed for another 3-year extension to continue with the team through the 2015/2016 season.

He sticks with the parent club to begin 2013/2014 and doesn’t appear to be going anywhere soon. In 7 games he has one assist.

He’s never been a big point-getter but is looked to for steady play and leadership abilities he brings at only 23-years old.

He was team captain of Kingston Frontenacs in his final two campaigns of junior hockey.

12Oct

Luke Glendening(41) Detroit Red Wings

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2nd year right wing/center Luke Glendening(33) signed a one-year, two-way entry level deal with Detroit Red Wings just after free agency started.

The undrafted forward had an outstanding rookie season on an AHL contract with minor league affiliate Grand Rapid Griffins and then took it up another notch in the playoffs striking for 6 goals and 10 assists in 22 games on the way to the 2013 Calder Cup Championship.

It wasn’t exactly a breeze for the 24-year old forward though as he was reassigned to start 2012/2013 in the ECHL with Toledo Walleye, where he detonated the score sheet with 14 goals and 7 assists in 27 games before being recalled permanently a couple of months into the campaign.

His unrelenting work ethic continued to impress the parent club that was closely watching his early strides and inked him quickly before any other suitors could step in.

The 5’11” 195 lbs. sophomore skater earns his first NHL recall after a quick start with their farm club, putting up a pair of assists in the opening two contests.

He was captain of his college hockey squad at University Of Michigan and won an NCAA title two seasons ago. He also was chosen as the best defensive-minded forward, which is primarily his style but he’s quickly adding goal scorer to that depth chart.

09Aug

Brennan Evans(44) Grand Rapids Griffins

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Brennan Evans

11th year defenseman Brennan Evans(44) returns to 2013 Calder Cup Champions Grand Rapids Griffins for another season, signing a 1-year extension to stay with the team. They wasted no time to get him back into the fold.

He has played in a whopping 712 AHL games with 7 different clubs notching 14 goals, 93 assists and a highly accountable +23 rating often while under NHL contract but has never appeared in the big league.

The imposing 6’4″ 230 lbs. blue liner has yet to score over 20 points in a season but he’s been part of the triple digit penalty minutes club since his third year in the pros.

Almost ironically he put up better numbers in the postseason last year (2 goals, 6 assists in 24 contests) than he did in the entire 2012/2013.

At 31-years old, he will in all likelihood reach the elite group of skaters to play in 1000 AHL games but even if he comes up a bit short, he will always be able to look back on a great hockey career.

29Jul

Tom McCollum(30) Grand Rapids Griffins

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Detroit Red Wings‘ 1st round pick in the 2008 draft (#30 overall) goaltender Tom McCollum(30) signs a one-year AHL deal to continue with Grand Rapids Griffins, the team he won the Calder Cup Championship with last season.

Heading into his 5th season, after much bandying about, he was ultimately given a qualified offer as a restricted free agent by the parent club for the upcoming campaign, but is staying put in the minors hoping to regain the form he had in junior hockey with Guelph Storm to become such a high selection.

He showed promise last season posting his first winning record at 18-11 in 31 starts on what obviously was a great team but the suits had to be looking at his overall performance to want to keep him around for another shot.

The big 6’3″ 219 lbs. net minder has appeared in 113 regular season games with the Griffins, 42 with ECHL affiliate Toledo Walleye but only one disastrous NHL contest, despite being recalled on a half a dozen or more occasions to serve as back-up.

At this point the still very young 23-year old goalie may need to catch the attention of another club to grab another big league contract.

Even though he had a winning record and better numbers than any of his previous years pro, he’s fallen low on the Red Wings‘ depth chart and will need to prove himself big.

12Jul

Nathan Paetsch(4) Grand Rapid Griffins

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11th year, double-drafted defenseman Nathan Paetsch(4) re-ups with Grand Rapid Griffins for another couple of seasons after a year overseas in DEL with Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg.

He appeared in 70 AHL games scoring 4 goals and 27 assists with a +13 rating and added another 11 assists in 24 Calder Cup Playoff contests on the way to the league championship.

The 6′ 195 lbs. blue liner has 319 AHL games to his credit.

He had been under NHL contract from 2006-2011 and skated in 167 match-ups mostly with Buffalo Sabres, the second team that drafted him in the 7th round in 2003 (#202 overall).

He was initially picked by Washington Capitals in 2001 in the 2nd round (#58 overall) but never signed.

The 30-year old is likely to happy to have secured a place to play pro hockey through the 2015 season, if not beyond that and will likely continue in his assistant captain role with the team.

Nathan Paetsch

26Jun

Joakim Andersson(18) Detroit Red Wings

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Detroit Red Wings‘ 3rd round pick in the 2007 draft (#88 overall), Swedish-born center Joakim Andersson(18) has been given a qualifying offer to stay in the team’s prospect system for a fourth season.

He originally signed a 3-year entry level deal that is up as of July 1 and is coming off a career year in the system, playing 38 NHL games, scoring 3 goals and 5 assists during the shortened lockout season and adding another tally and 5 helpers in 14 playoff games.

The 6’2″ 205 lbs. forward was reassigned to their minor league affiliate Grand Rapid Griffins as soon as they were eliminated, rejoining a team the 24-year old had already skated in 189 AHL games with, including 36 to start 2012/2013. He had 10 goals and 17 assists in his most recent campaign and 38 goals and 63 assists total.

As a Griffin once again, he put up another 3 goals and 5 assists on the way to a Calder Cup Championship ring.

Might very well be the last the lower league sees of this guy.

Joakim Andersson