With the Grand Rapids Griffins firmly in the AHL playoffs, the Detroit Red Wings and their affiliate have made some moves with the future in mind.

The Griffins signed North Dakota forward Hunter Johannes to an amateur tryout contract for 2024 and standard American Hockey League player contract beginning next season on Wednesday. He joins forward Emmitt Finnie (No. 201, 2023) and goalie Carter Gylander (No. 191, 2019), who signed similar contracts with the Red Wings last month.

Grand Rapids coach Dan Watson says adding the trio now should give them a head start on next season.

“We want to make sure (they) come in and and sees what the American League is all about,” he said. “You can get these kids a head start into what’s expected, so they’re prepared for pro hockey. I think it’s a great step in the right direction for their development.”

Additions To Contribute Immediately

Finnie has already played in two games for the Griffins after a standout season at Kamloops of the WHL. He’s the second of the Red Wings’ 2023 draft picks to sign with Detroit. It’s not a given that an NHL team would sign a seventh-round pick, but the Red Wings liked the growth in Finnie’s game this season enough to give him a contract.

Gylander, 22, joins fellow 2019 draftees Antti Tuomisto, Albert Johansson and Elmer Soderblom on the Griffins roster. The 6-4, 165-pound goalie recently finished his college career at Colgate. He backstopped the Raiders to their first ECAC championship in more than 30 years in 2022-23. He was 14-14-4 with a 2.93 GAA and a .901 save percentage this season.

“Carter Gylander helped make Colgate a solid NCAA team,” said NHL draft analyst and NHLdraftbuzz.com owner Russ Cohen. “He stays on his knees a lot since he’s 6’5″. He has a very effective blocker and his leg saves are quick and he’s good at directing the puck to the corners to keep the play going. His glove is ok, it could be better. He has quick covers and he is rarely out of position. Gylander hugs the post well. Sometimes gives up the low goal when he has to move from post to post. I think he may be a future NHL backup.”

Johannes, 25, played in 31 games for North Dakota.This despite a lower-body injury that sidelined him for much of the second half of the season. The 6-3, 210-pound forward scored 12 goals with seven assists for North Dakota.

Watson said Johannes will add a size element to the Griffins.

“Our expectations are he’s going to come in, get some minutes, get some games and see how he does,” Watson said. “So we’re excited about it. We’re excited to have fresh faces in that locker room in the lineup. It does create some energy.”

For now, Johannes’ contract is owned by the Griffins. But the Red Wings will obviously be able to watch him, especially next season.

The post Griffins Bring in Prospects to Get A Taste of the AHL appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Emmitt Finnie learned he had been drafted by the Detroit Red Wings by telephone after a workout last summer.

The next step in his Red Wings career was more direct.

Finnie, drafted in the seventh round last summer, signed a three-year contract with the Red Wings on Thursday. It begins with the 2024-25 season. He will join the  Grand Rapids Griffins on an amateur tryout deal for the rest of this season.

The 6-1, 178-pound forward signed at the conclusion of his third season with the Kamloops Blazers of tbe Western Hockey League. He led the team in points (59), assists (40) and was second on the team in goals with 19. He was named the WHL’s Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 11. He had seven goals and  two assists in three games.

His 59 points this season was a significant jump from the year before, when he had nine goals and 35 points. He led the team in shorthanded goals (f0ur) and was second on the team in power-play points with 20.

The post Red Wings Ink 2023 Draft Pick To Three-Year Contract appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Emmitt Finnie found out he had been drafted by the Red Wings in a roundabout way.

“The morning of the draft, I was working out, so I wasn’t home when the draft started,” he said when interviewed by WHL.com last June. “I was watching it at the gym, and I found out I had been drafted when I was walking home and my phone started blowing up.”

The timing might have been a surprise, but the selection wasn’t.

The post 2023 Red Wings Draft Update: Finnie a Leader With Kamloops (+) appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

The 2023-24 seas0n is nearly two months along, and beginning this week we’ll be keeping tabs on Red Wings prospects in the minors, or juniors, or in college in what we’re calling the Prospect Watch.

It’s not a ranking or assessment of talent, (For now, we’ll leave that to the guys Chris Ilitch is paying to do that) but it will be a snapshot of how prospects fared in the previous week. So the fact that players move up and down on this list is purely our perception, not where we think they rank in the organization.

Sandin Pellikka Off to Fast Start

Axel Sandin Pellikka is off to a blazing start in Sweden, recording his seventh goal in 18 games this season. That’s good for a forward. It’s amazing f0r a defenseman. Sandin Pellikka. the 17th overall pick last summer,  is off to the best start for a teenage defenseman in Sweden in 40 years. Ulf Samuelsson, who was very briefly a Red Wing at the end of his NHL career, had nine goals in 33 games in 1982-83.

Axel Sandin Pellikka (#LGRW) had the first three-point game of his SHL career on Nov 16th.

It was also a transition masterclass, showcasing why he's quickly becoming one of the best defensive prospects in the sport.

Highlights: pic.twitter.com/jdOI84wFsn

— Lassi Alanen (@lassialanen) November 18, 2023

Trey Augustine had a big weekend for the red-hot Michigan State hockey team. He was in net for both games as the Spartans (10-3-1) swept top-ranked Wisconsin. Augustine has a GAA of 2.99, a save percentage of . 913 and is 9-3-1 with a shutout while playing in 13 of MSU’s 14 games this season.

Simon Edvinsson has had a solid start even as the Grand Rapids Griffins stumble. The Griffins were swept by the Texas Stars last weekend. Edvinsson had a pair of assists in a 7-4 loss on Saturday. He has three goals in 13 games this season, well ahead of last year’s pace.

Mazur Hot After Return From Injury

Carter Mazur, who missed training camp with an injury suffered in Traverse City two months ago, has five points in seven games so far this season. He has two goals and three assists. That’s the same as Cross Hanas and Amadeus Lombardi, who have played in 13 and 12 games, respectively.

Red Savage is off to a good start at Michigan State after transferring from Miami (Ohio). He has four goals and 14 points in as many games for the Spartans.

Nate Danielson makes scoring goals look soooooo easy!@bdnwheatkings | @DetroitRedWings pic.twitter.com/M9Rc4vq6DA

— The WHL (@TheWHL) November 18, 2023

Nate Danielson and Emmitt Finnie represented the Western Hockey League at each end of last summer’s draft. Danielson, the No. 9 overall selection, was impressive in training camp before beginning the season with Brandon. He has five goals and 13 points. Finnie, taken in the seventh round at No. 201, has four goals and 13 points for Kamloops.

Red Wings 2023 draftee Jack Phelan (137th overall) was among the 22 players named to the 2023 U.S. Junior Select Team that will compete at the 2023 World Junior A Challenge from December 10-17 in Truro, Nova Scotia. The 19-year-old defenseman is showing 1-4-5 totals with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede.

The post Red Wings Prospect Watch: Trey Augustine Posts Big Wins appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

The Detroit Red Wings added to their defense at the start of the second day of the NHL Drat on Thursday in Nashville.

The Red Wings had three consecutive picks in the second round, but traded the third to the Predators for Nashville’s second-round pick and one in the fifth round.

Their first pick, at No. 41, was goalie Trey Augustine, who was born in South Lyon and played in high school at Livonia Churchill before moving to the National Team Development Program. He has committed to play at Michigan State.

Augustine, who is 6-feet, 189 pounds, played in 32 games last season for the USNTDP with a 2.14 goals-against average and .925 save percentage. He won four of six games for the U.S. team at the World Junior Championships, with  2.85 GAA and .891 save percentage. His draft stock rose considerably after that.

The next pick, No. 42, was defenseman Andrew Gibson of the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL. The 6-3, 185 pounder had seven goals for the Greyhounds last season and recorded three assists in seven games for Team Canada in the World Under-18 Games.

“I got a lot of friends and family who are Wings fans,” Gibson said. “I played for the Junior Red Wings in a tournament with Trey. It’s a great feeling being so close to home, being with such a great organization.”

Gibson , who missed eight weeks due to injury last season, uses an accurate wrist shot in traffic to create opportunities for rebounds and tip-ins. He was the Greyhounds’ rookie of the year last season.

“I’m a bigger guy,” he said. “I like to use my size to my advantage. I think I skate well for a big guy as well. I think I can play both ends of the ice, but offensively and defensively.”

After the trade, Detroit took defenseman Brady Cleveland with the No. 47 pick, Cleveland is a Wisconsin native who is signed to play at the University of Wisconsin next winter.

Cleveland was excited to join his teammate, Augustine, in the Red Wings[ draft class.

“I was sitting in the stands when he got picked and I was absolutely pumped for him,” he said, “and then for me to get picked right after is awesome. I really loved playing with him and to be able to go back and play with him again, that would be something really special.”

Cleveland isn’t much of  a scorer — he took only 14 shots in 55 games last season. But at 6-5, 211, he was one of the toughest hitters in the USHL and led the USNDTP with 106 penalty minutes. He’s skilled enough as a defender to play for the U.S. team at the World U-18 Championships.

“That’s kind of what I pride myself on,” he said of his physical game. “I like to be that guy who’s mean and physical and get up in your face and be hard to play against. It doesn’t matter what game, what scenario, I’m going to be out there and make it a nightmare for you.”

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In the third round, Detroit selected forward Noah Dower Nilsson, a 6-0 left wing who played for Vastra Frolunda Jr. of the Swedish Junior League last season, recording 26 goals and 28 assists in 37 games.

“I think my strength is developing,” he said. “When I have the puck I create opportunities for my teammates. My offensive skills. What I need to be better on is to be stronger on the puck, stronger on the whole and my play in the D zone.”

His brother, Liam, was a fifth-round pick by the Red Wings in 2021. He was with the rest of the family when Noah’s name was called.

“He’s always been with me and my whole family has helped me to get here,” Noah Dower-Nilsson said. “Without them I don’t think I’m here. I will also thank my mom. She has helped me get here today. She’s my biggest idol.”

In the fourth round, the Red Wings took Larry Keenan of Culver Academy, a high school in Culver, Ind. He is the grandson of Larry Keenan, who played for four NHL teams in the 1960s.

The younger Keenan wasn’t surprised to be taken by Detroit.

“They were probably one of the teams that had the most interest in me,” he said. “I know their scout Tim Gibson, he was calling my personal trainer quite a big, even like two days ago, just checking in, making sure everything was good.”

The elder Keenan scored the first goal in the history of the St. Louis Blues, and was on the ice when Bobby Orr scored his famous goal against St. Louis in 1970.

Among those celebrating the pick was the elder Larry Keenan, who is now 83.

“I’m really excited to share it with them and take it all in. Enjoying the moment,” the younger Keenan said.

Detroit had two fifth-round picks, their own and Nashville’s. With their pick they took defenseman Jack Phelan of Sioux City (USHL). With Nashville’s choice, they took German forward Kevin Bicker.

In the sixth round, the Red Wings took another goalie, selecting Rudy Guimond of the Taft School of Watertown, Connecticut.

He plans to spend the next two years with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids team before attending Yale. But the draft was a personal highlight.

“It’s something I’ve been dreaming about my whole life,” Guimond said. “So if (being drafted) were to happen I just really wanted to be here. Nashville’s been great, so I’m really happy I came. And obviously, I got drafted.”

Detroit finished the day by taking left wing Emmitt Finnie in the seventh round. Finnie played for Kamloops of the WHL last season.

The post Red Wings Go For Defense in Draft’s Second Day appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.