A Look at Red Wings AHL Affiliate

The Detroit Red Wings AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, opened the 2022-23 season last night against the San Diego Gulls (Anaheim). The two teams will play again tonight at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI. The game time is 7:00 pm ET.

To start the season, the Griffins have 25 players on the roster: 14 forwards, eight defensemen, and three goaltenders. Eighteen of the Griffins players are signed to NHL contracts with Detroit. Ten players drafted by Detroit will be in the opening night lineup. This compares to seven players drafted by the Red Wings who were in the opening lineup one year ago. The Griffins will open the season with six rookies in the lineup, including Detroit draft picks Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson, Eemil Viro, and Cross Hanas.

Before the home opener on Friday, the Griffins assigned Detroit’s top goaltending prospect Sebastian Cossa to Toledo (ECHL). The Griffins also assigned forwards Trenton Bliss and Kirill Tyutyayev to play for the Walleye to start the season.

Here is the complete roster to start the season.

Goaltenders (3)

#1 Victor Brattstrom, Detroit’s 9th choice, 160th overall, in 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit/Signed

#31 John Lethmon, Undrafted, Grand Rapids/Signed

#45 Jussi Olkinuora, Undrafted, Detroit/Signed

Defensemen (8)

#3 Jared McIsaac, Detroit’s 4th choice, 36th overall, in 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit/Signed

#5 Eemil Viro, Detroit’s 6th choice, 70th overall, in 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit/Signed

#18 Brian Lashoff, Undrafted, Grand Rapids/Signed

#20 Steven Kampfer, Anaheim’s 5th choice, 93rd overall, in 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit/Signed

#33 Albert Johansson, Detroit’s 4th choice, 60th overall, in 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit/Signed

#37 Donovan Sebrango, Detroit’s 5th choice, 63rd overall, in 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit/Signed

#40 Wyatt Newpower, Undrafted, Detroit/Signed

#77 Simon Edvinsson, Detroit’s 1st choice, 6th overall, in 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit/Signed

Forwards (14)

#9 Matt Luff-RW, Undrafted, Detroit/Signed

#11 Joel L’Esperance-C, Undrafted, Grand Rapids/Signed

#13 Drew Worrad-C, Undrafted, Grand Rapids/Signed

#17 Taro Hirose-LW, Undrafted, Detroit/Signed

#22 Chase Pearson-C, Detroit’s 5th choice, 140th overall, in 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit/Signed

#27 Austin Czarnik-C, Undrafted, Detroit/Signed

#32 Tyler Spezia-C, Undrafted, Grand Rapids/Signed

#41 Cedric Lacroix-LW, Undrafted, Grand Rapids/Signed

#48 Jonatan Berggren-W, Detroit’s 2nd choice, 33rd overall, in 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit/Signed

#51 Kyle Criscuolo-C, Undrafted, Detroit/Signed

#54 Givani Smith-LW, Detroit’s 2nd choice, 46th overall, in 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit/Signed

#65 Dominik Shine-RW, Undrafted, Grand Rapids/Signed

#71 Cross Hanas-RW, Detroit’s 4th choice, 55th overall, in 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit/Signed

#96 Pontus Andreasson-RW, Undrafted, Detroit/Signed

Red Wings Training Camp Preview The Production Line Podcast

In this episode, we recap the Traverse City Prospect Tournament and which players stood out. We spend the rest of the episode previewing the Red Wings' training camp and potential storylines to follow.
  1. Red Wings Training Camp Preview
  2. Prospect Tournament and Pacific Division Preview
  3. Kane Rumors and Veleno's Future
  4. Petry
  5. Way Too Early Red Wings' Lineup Projections

Chris Giles

Chris Giles is a former junior hockey player and coach from Canada. He has been a diehard Detroit Red Wings fan for almost 50 years. Chris is an avid golfer who has volunteered at several PGA and Canadian Open Championships throughout North America.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

MN Wild Training Camp is All About Chemistry

After a boring off-season, the Minnesota Wild returned to the ice with the same core group of players. There is already a sense of who plays well with whom or which players could swap places to try new line combinations. There are two places where chemistry might need some attention though. Matt Boldy/Joel Eriksson Ek/Marcus […]

Read More

Quinton Byfield and Arthur Kaliyev: Breakout Stars to be

Two players to note: Adrian Kempe and Gabriel Vilardi. These are the only two prospects in the LA Kings pipeline that broke out in the last decade. They played to their draft pedigree, and arguably with Kempe, above their draft position. The history of first-round draft picks within the organization getting injured or not playing […]

Read More

Jacob MacDonald Season Preview

Jacob MacDonald is the last man standing after a trade that sent Matt Nieto and Ryan Merkley to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for MacDonald and Martin Kaut. The other three players are either not in the NHL anymore or on a different team. Ryan Merkley plays in the KHL, and Martin Kaut is in […]

Read More