Prospect Info: Grand Rapids Griffins, 2024 - 2025 Season

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Big comeback win! Griffins came alive in the 3rd as Moose dominated most of the first two periods and scored 4 unanswered goals

After a few shifts hey moved Mazur off the top line down to the 3rd line switching with Gettinger


Danielson: B+
• Pretty quiet offensively. Great defensively. Him and Buium link up here and there, often in tight space, and their skill/IQ together is so apparent when they do. They're gonna show up even better on the scoresheet when they're surrounded by actual NHL talent. Finished a few checks today playing notably more physical in that regard


Mazur: A-
• I'll say, he was quite noticeable and it seemed like he wasn't even trying all game lol. No adjustment time needed. Smart player. When needed, he was getting to the hard areas like the boards and net front. Wins puck battles and can make a quick play off of it

Such nice pace to the game, you can see that he'd be knocking hard for a callup had he played the full season thus far. He was all over the Rafferty goal shift, almost effortlessly, and made a slick pass to keep the blueline, then eventually a swift pass to start the goal play. 3rd assist there

Big shot block when the game was 5-3 with 5 mins left. Shortly after has a grade-A scoring chance but shot it just over the net


Wallinder: A-
• Good on the first two PKs, he was actually battling and getting body position in front better too. Nice job playing the man when defending the rush. He was getting quite a few looks in the offensive zone and they were good reads by him to get them. Having trouble handling passes but did make the most of his plays

I noticed he was taking better looks when under pressure and sending the puck up the boards from his zone


Buium: A+
• Best player in the game. This is not the first time either lately, he continues to play damn good hockey. Talk about adjusting to pro hockey... I have eaten all the crow on this kid...

Where do I start? Great reads to start a breakout. Good at maintaining pressure along the boards, particularly with skating and keep his stick active when the player changes directions on him

He has excellent vision with the puck, and he showcased that in particular to catch Becher dropping back for his eventual shot and goal. Nice feed to Doucet who fed Rafferty for the goal very shortly after. So many plays he starts by feeding the high forward or even carrying down low himself


Becher: A-
• He was really good with his decisions and handling of the puck. Made a great read to drop into the high slot and fire home a one-timer goal. He was good defensively around his net too


EDIT: they changed the 2nd Buium assist to Mazur

I’m glad to hear that Buium is blossoming in GR. Is he still tracking as a guy that could be a fair 5/6 that can move the puck cleanly but doesn’t provide much offense? Or does he look like there’s potential to add a little more offense to his game and become a solid 2nd pair guy?

 

[WestlakeWingFan]

Breaking news: players accumulate a "minus" when they're on the ice during a goal against...

To answer your statement; because he was literally not directly involved with the goal against, aka covering his man and doing his part? I would have called him out of he was... He played a good game otherwise? I gave him a lower mark than literally every other player in my post. That says a lot. If he played bad then I would mark him as such. E.g. a "C-". If he's not on the scoresheet, then that's okay. It's how he approaches the game and all the little details in between. Which he's virtually always great at

I recommend watching the games yourself, instead of judging players based on statlines, and taking digs in other threads e.g. today about Kiiskinen and how he's "doing better than our 1st round picks"

Not very intellectually honest of you. It's way too easy to watch stats and be a critic

Edit: phrasing

The fact that I have no idea who you are responding to speaks well of the ignore function.

 

[Frk It]

Big comeback win! Griffins came alive in the 3rd as Moose dominated most of the first two periods and scored 4 unanswered goals

After a few shifts hey moved Mazur off the top line down to the 3rd line switching with Gettinger


Danielson: B+
• Pretty quiet offensively. Great defensively. Him and Buium link up here and there, often in tight space, and their skill/IQ together is so apparent when they do. They're gonna show up even better on the scoresheet when they're surrounded by actual NHL talent. Finished a few checks today playing notably more physical in that regard


Mazur: A-
• I'll say, he was quite noticeable and it seemed like he wasn't even trying all game lol. No adjustment time needed. Smart player. When needed, he was getting to the hard areas like the boards and net front. Wins puck battles and can make a quick play off of it

Such nice pace to the game, you can see that he'd be knocking hard for a callup had he played the full season thus far. He was all over the Rafferty goal shift, almost effortlessly, and made a slick pass to keep the blueline, then eventually a swift pass to start the goal play. 3rd assist there

Big shot block when the game was 5-3 with 5 mins left. Shortly after has a grade-A scoring chance but shot it just over the net


Wallinder: A-
• Good on the first two PKs, he was actually battling and getting body position in front better too. Nice job playing the man when defending the rush. He was getting quite a few looks in the offensive zone and they were good reads by him to get them. Having trouble handling passes but did make the most of his plays

I noticed he was taking better looks when under pressure and sending the puck up the boards from his zone


Buium: A+
• Best player in the game. This is not the first time either lately, he continues to play damn good hockey. Talk about adjusting to pro hockey... I have eaten all the crow on this kid...

Where do I start? Great reads to start a breakout. Good at maintaining pressure along the boards, particularly with skating and keep his stick active when the player changes directions on him

He has excellent vision with the puck, and he showcased that in particular to catch Becher dropping back for his eventual shot and goal. Nice feed to Doucet who fed Rafferty for the goal very shortly after. So many plays he starts by feeding the high forward or even carrying down low himself


Becher: A-
• He was really good with his decisions and handling of the puck. Made a great read to drop into the high slot and fire home a one-timer goal. He was good defensively around his net too


EDIT: they changed the 2nd Buium assist to Mazur

Enjoy reading these and glad to hear Buium is playing well.

Seems like a lot of Wings fans hated that pick, but I always thought he had an interesting skill set and saw the appeal with him.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

I’m glad to hear that Buium is blossoming in GR. Is he still tracking as a guy that could be a fair 5/6 that can move the puck cleanly but doesn’t provide much offense? Or does he look like there’s potential to add a little more offense to his game and become a solid 2nd pair guy?

I too see him as a #5 who leads that bottom pairing. I don't see how he can't become a guy who slots in as a good #4 that often hides out on the bottom pair due to our D depth

One big thing that will need to happen is him improving his skating and explosiveness more to;

• Cover more ice defensively against the rush
• Gain speed when he joins the rush

...And boy he enjoys starting and joining the rush. The best part is how smart about it he is, the reads are excellent IMO

The other thing is his shot. He has good willingness to shoot and quite a few of his assists are from redirects in front. Shot just needs to be more of a weapon, velocity-wise

At the next level, he could reasonably just be a yearly 20-30 point guy with good shutdown defense. Whatever # D you may call that

 

[newfy]

Enjoy reading these and glad to hear Buium is playing well.

Seems like a lot of Wings fans hated that pick, but I always thought he had an interesting skill set and saw the appeal with him.

I dunno that it was hated but I remember pretty annoyed that Josh Doan was the next pick. Hes doing pretty good too so far in his pro career, but I'm also fine with looking for big dmen over wingers early in the draft so its kinda whatever.

Anyone who watches GR comes across as really impressed with Buium it seems

 

[Frk It]

I dunno that it was hated but I remember pretty annoyed that Josh Doan was the next pick. Hes doing pretty good too so far in his pro career, but I'm also fine with looking for big dmen over wingers early in the draft so its kinda whatever.

Anyone who watches GR comes across as really impressed with Buium it seems

I can't recall a lot of people liking the pick, unless I am remembering things incorrectly.

Based on what I had read on him from a couple different places, I thought he was the kind of defenseman I usually like taking a gamble on in round 2.

Either way... glad he is doing well.

 

[newfy]

I can't recall a lot of people liking the pick, unless I am remembering things incorrectly.

Based on what I had read on him from a couple different places, I thought he was the kind of defenseman I usually like taking a gamble on in round 2.

Either way... glad he is doing well.

Yeah I dont think a lot of people liked it but when you say hated the pick, I'm picturing the outrage when someone like Bertuzzi was drafted. Boom definitely didnt get that level ofhate lol