Prospect Info: Grand Rapids Griffins, 2024 - 2025 Season

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Sucks but not surprising

Whole team hasn't been scoring, sometimes players get bumped down to try other things. It isn't always a message being sent or the player sucks. Haven't been paying attention to the Griffs, but those who do say the team hasn't been scoring a lot lately.

Not saying he isn't struggling, maybe he is, as I hoped for more pts also, but Kasper struggled offensively as well in the AHL and he is fine in the NHL. Some players games mesh better in the NHL than the AHL. Guys like Pulkkinen and many others did well in the AHL offensively and couldn't hang in the NHL, so lower scoring doesn't always mean much.
 
Whole team hasn't been scoring, sometimes players get bumped down to try other things. It isn't always a message being sent or the player sucks. Haven't been paying attention to the Griffs, but those who do say the team hasn't been scoring a lot lately.

Not saying he isn't struggling, maybe he is, as I hoped for more pts also, but Kasper struggled offensively as well in the AHL and he is fine in the NHL. Some players games mesh better in the NHL than the AHL. Guys like Pulkkinen and many others did well in the AHL offensively and couldn't hang in the NHL, so lower scoring doesn't always mean much.
Don't forget Kasper playing with Raymond and Larkin.
I have never liked Danielson pick, he is typical third line center, Larkin was also third line center. Things could change, everything in his hands. Next season Danielson should play third line center in NHL, preferably with Kane and maybe Soderblom.
 
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Don't forget Kasper playing with Raymond and Larkin.
I have never liked Danielson pick, he is typical third line center, Larkin was also third line center. Things could change, everything in his hands. Next season Danielson should play third line center in NHL, preferably with Kane and maybe Soderblom.
Only the most negative of people considered Larkin a 3C in the NHL. Everyone else had him as a top 6 C.
 
Sure, because he was behind two elite centers, but because he was behind those two didn’t mean that normal people thought 3C was his NHL upside.
Did I say that his upside was third line center? If I said that , my apologies.
Actually I prefer him over those 2 elite players for his leadership and for what he is for younger guys.
 
Griffins vs Thunderbirds, 2/12. TL;DR incoming!!!

Tough finished to that - the 2-1 goal scorer McGing was blatantly offside and that was the backbreaker with under 5 mins left in the game. Griffins looked much, much better getting chances tonight, I thought they could've had 3 or 4 more goals easily. 4th line was great and I'd say that was Johannes best game all year. PP with Danielson/Mazur/Watson/Doucet/Buium looked excellent, I have no idea how at least one goal didn't go in for them. Griffins keep running into hot goaltenders man...


Danielson: A
• Would have an A+ if he finished on just one of those shots. He sure had some jump tonight and finally had some linemates that can keep up with him. Line 2 with Mazur and Shine and holy smokes they were dominant and all over the puck. Quick in transition, and quick on the attack. The line had a good first shift right off the opening faceoff and then cooked in the offensive zone during their 2nd shift. Shine almost buried from 15 feet out but just missed. 3rd shift they hemmed the T-Birds in the zone and Danielson drifted back on the doorstep to try a tap in feed and the puck trickled across the goal line

Shine fed Danielson and he got all of a one-timer in the slot but Ellis made a nice glove save

Mid-2nd shift with Snively and Watson had him feed Snively for a chance, and then drifted into the slot for an one-timer that just missed

PP mid-2nd he got ROBBED by Ellis all alone in the slot

Chances again at the start of the 3rd but couldn't bury lmao... he is so snakebitten. Yes I would like him to start finishing, but he's doing all the right things and I know he's gripping that stick when nothing is going in and he gets chance after chance. Dude had to have about 8-10 shot attempts. Puck was on his stick all night, in every zone


Mazur: A-
• Chemistry with Danielson and thank God coach made the change cause I was banging the table for this a lot

He, Danielson, Buium all looked great on the PP1 together on the first PP. Had a couple good looks but most importantly the puck movement was better than when they're stuck carrying lesser skilled guys on the PP, which has been part of the problem

He got absolutely robbed on that mid-2nd PP right in front from a great Danielson to Watson to Mazur play

Unfortunately he fumbled the chip-in entering the zone and the T-Bird fired it back down the ice into the empty net to make it 3-1


Wallinder: B-
• At the end of the 1st PP, Becher went to the left boards, avoided a check by making a spinning area pass to Wallinder at the left point, but Wallinder missed it. The T-Bird Peterson came out the box, went on a breakaway and scored. Now, the puck was bouncing slightly, but it was a soft pass that was slightly more to the middle, but as it went by WW looked flat footed and didn't catch the man coming so I wasn't impressed by his awareness and lack of urgency

Almost wired home a loose puck, got deflected out. He was getting quite a few shooting looks on the PP, but he's gotta wire one of them home

He made a cross ice stretch pass to absolutely nobody with under 4 mins left and iced the puck


Buium: B
• Made a bad pass into the middle of the NZ on a PP and T-Birds went right in and Campbell had to make a big save. He fumbled the puck just before that too. Kind of an off puck handling night for him

I do think he will need to work on the speed in which he pivots defending a rush. He might get beat against faster, stronger, better puck handling NHLers

Threw a couple funny looking hits lol. If this is the start of him trying to be a more physical player, I'm all for it

Otherwise, solid enough play overall


Tuomisto: A-
• Good keep at the line, made a quick pass to Johannes waiting in the slot who spun around to shoot and Seger cleaned up the rebound for the only Griffs goal

Escaping pressure, moving the puck well. I like how he just gets the puck on net. Been shooting a lot lately


Becher: A-
• I really like how well he tracks the puck when he doesn't have it, and I am really liking his decision making with the puck when he has it. Puck is continuing to follow him and he's making plays even with 3rd line AHL guys. He did an EXCELLENT job tracking the puck and had so many smart reads, touches, and plays on the PP in period 2

His line spent a great deal of time in the o-zone the shift shifting momentum right before Seger's line scored

Excellent first shift in period 2. Started a rush, give-and-go with Tuomisto and Becher went right to the net and almost roofed a backhand shot

They've relied on him being a transporter of the puck on PP2. Almost wired on home after another give-and-go with Tuomisto on the PP but Ellis made yet another nice pad save

Great pressure defensively and supporting the puck. Great work along the boards in the dirty areas using his body and getting possession



Since they're facing each other for the first time, I'll add my thoughts on #10 OA in 2023. I'm trying to be unbiased as possible, but I've watched him about 8 times in 2025 so I'm just trying to form an opinion of what this player is made of in the AHL

Dvorsky: B
• He's listed as a center but he takes the routes that a winger does. I notice a lot he's the F1 but he's center with lacking foot speed. Are they just telling him to skate wherever he wants due to his deficiency there? His line got pinned in where GR's 4th line scored the only goal of the night

In the late 2nd Watson ran over a guy just outside the Griffs blueline, Mazur came in to collect the puck and two T-Birds who are already focused and involved there, Dvorsky has his attention on this play where the Griffins go on a THREE ON ZERO and Rafferty couldn't bury the breakaway. I'm not sure he knew Danielson and Viro were with him. Dvorsky is the center and he focused his attention away from his position to that scrumb, instead of the puck? These are the plays, at least as a center that have me questioning his off-puck intelligence

Had a good faceoff win (he's pretty good on the dot) and got a shot off that Campbell swallowed up. Shift before that he stickhandled near the blueline escaping pressure and then fed a quick pass near the back door that the T-Bird couldn't handle

Definitely has nifty small area passing ability and quick hands, and if you let him loose he can definitely make you pay quickly. I just don't see him creating space with or without the puck as much as you'd think from looking at his stats. IMHO he has a lot of work to do as a prospect doing little things if he wants to produce in the NHL. He's 19 still though and the production can't be ignored. He has this summer to get stronger and quicker but for his development I would think, unless he has a monster offseason and training camp, he starts in Springfield in October and is first on the callup list for St. Louis. With added speed and defensive coaching, he could be a good #2 LW/RW, PP1 triggerman for the Blues
 
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Griffins vs Thunderbirds, 2/12. TL;DR incoming!!!

Tough finished to that - the 2-1 goal scorer McGing was blatantly offside and that was the backbreaker with under 5 mins left in the game. Griffins looked much, much better getting chances tonight, I thought they could've had 3 or 4 more goals easily. 4th line was great and I'd say that was Johannes best game all year. PP with Danielson/Mazur/Watson/Doucet/Buium looked excellent, I have no idea how at least one goal didn't go in for them. Griffins keep running into hot goaltenders man...


Danielson: A
• Would have an A+ if he finished on just one of those shots. He sure had some jump tonight and finally had some linemates that can keep up with him. Line 2 with Mazur and Shine and holy smokes they were dominant and all over the puck. Quick in transition, and quick on the attack. The line had a good first shift right off the opening faceoff and then cooked in the offensive zone during their 2nd shift. Shine almost buried from 15 feet out but just missed. 3rd shift they hemmed the T-Birds in the zone and Danielson drifted back on the doorstep to try a tap in feed and the puck trickled across the goal line

Shine fed Danielson and he got all of a one-timer in the slot but Ellis made a nice glove save

Mid-2nd shift with Snively and Watson had him feed Snively for a chance, and then drifted into the slot for an one-timer that just missed

PP mid-2nd he got ROBBED by Ellis all alone in the slot

Chances again at the start of the 3rd but couldn't bury lmao... he is so snakebitten. Yes I would like him to start finishing, but he's doing all the right things and I know he's gripping that stick when nothing is going in and he gets chance after chance. Dude had to have about 8-10 shot attempts. Puck was on his stick all night, in every zone


Mazur: A-
• Chemistry with Danielson and thank God coach made the change cause I was banging the table for this a lot

He, Danielson, Buium all looked great on the PP1 together on the first PP. Had a couple good looks but most importantly the puck movement was better than when they're stuck carrying lesser skilled guys on the PP, which has been part of the problem

He got absolutely robbed on that mid-2nd PP right in front from a great Danielson to Watson to Mazur play

Unfortunately he fumbled the chip-in entering the zone and the T-Bird fired it back down the ice into the empty net to make it 3-1


Wallinder: B-
• At the end of the 1st PP, Becher went to the left boards, avoided a check by making a spinning area pass to Wallinder at the left point, but Wallinder missed it. The T-Bird Peterson came out the box, went on a breakaway and scored. Now, the puck was bouncing slightly, but it was a soft pass that was slightly more to the middle, but as it went by WW looked flat footed and didn't catch the man coming so I wasn't impressed by his awareness and lack of urgency

Almost wired home a loose puck, got deflected out. He was getting quite a few shooting looks on the PP, but he's gotta wire one of them home

He made a cross ice stretch pass to absolutely nobody with under 4 mins left and iced the puck


Buium: B
• Made a bad pass into the middle of the NZ on a PP and T-Birds went right in and Campbell had to make a big save. He fumbled the puck just before that too. Kind of an off puck handling night for him

I do think he will need to work on the speed in which he pivots defending a rush. He might get beat against faster, stronger, better puck handling NHLers

Threw a couple funny looking hits lol. If this is the start of him trying to be a more physical player, I'm all for it

Otherwise, solid enough play overall


Tuomisto: A-
• Good keep at the line, made a quick pass to Johannes waiting in the slot who spun around to shoot and Seger cleaned up the rebound for the only Griffs goal

Escaping pressure, moving the puck well. I like how he just gets the puck on net. Been shooting a lot lately


Becher: A-
• I really like how well he tracks the puck when he doesn't have it, and I am really liking his decision making with the puck when he has it. Puck is continuing to follow him and he's making plays even with 3rd line AHL guys. He did an EXCELLENT job tracking the puck and had so many smart reads, touches, and plays on the PP in period 2

His line spent a great deal of time in the o-zone the shift shifting momentum right before Seger's line scored

Excellent first shift in period 2. Started a rush, give-and-go with Tuomisto and Becher went right to the net and almost roofed a backhand shot

They've relied on him being a transporter of the puck on PP2. Almost wired on home after another give-and-go with Tuomisto on the PP but Ellis made yet another nice pad save

Great pressure defensively and supporting the puck. Great work along the boards in the dirty areas using his body and getting possession



Since they're facing each other for the first time, I'll add my thoughts on #10 OA in 2023. I'm trying to be unbiased as possible, but I've watched him about 8 times in 2025 so I'm just trying to form an opinion of what this player is made of in the AHL

Dvorsky: B
• He's listed as a center but he takes the routes that a winger does. I notice a lot he's the F1 but he's center with lacking foot speed. Are they just telling him to skate wherever he wants due to his deficiency there? His line got pinned in where GR's 4th line scored the only goal of the night

In the late 2nd Watson ran over a guy just outside the Griffs blueline, Mazur came in to collect the puck and two T-Birds who are already focused and involved there, Dvorsky has his attention on this play where the Griffins go on a THREE ON ZERO and Rafferty couldn't bury the breakaway. I'm not sure he knew Danielson and Viro were with him. Dvorsky is the center and he focused his attention away from his position to that scrumb, instead of the puck? These are the plays, at least as a center that have me questioning his off-puck intelligence

Had a good faceoff win (he's pretty good on the dot) and got a shot off that Campbell swallowed up. Shift before that he stickhandled near the blueline escaping pressure and then fed a quick pass near the back door that the T-Bird couldn't handle

Definitely has nifty small area passing ability and quick hands, and if you let him loose he can definitely make you pay quickly. I just don't see him creating space with or without the puck as much as you'd think from looking at his stats. IMHO he has a lot of work to do as a prospect doing little things if he wants to produce in the NHL. He's 19 still though and the production can't be ignored. He has this summer to get stronger and quicker but for his development I would think, unless he has a monster offseason and training camp, he starts in Springfield in October and is first on the callup list for St. Louis. With added speed and defensive coaching, he could be a good #2 LW/RW, PP1 triggerman for the Blues
I mean this with respect since you obviously watch a lot of games, but I just don’t see how you can continuously give Danielson A grades game after game when he’s been pointless the majority of the time.
 
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Griffins vs Thunderbirds, 2/12. TL;DR incoming!!!

Tough finished to that - the 2-1 goal scorer McGing was blatantly offside and that was the backbreaker with under 5 mins left in the game. Griffins looked much, much better getting chances tonight, I thought they could've had 3 or 4 more goals easily. 4th line was great and I'd say that was Johannes best game all year. PP with Danielson/Mazur/Watson/Doucet/Buium looked excellent, I have no idea how at least one goal didn't go in for them. Griffins keep running into hot goaltenders man...


Danielson: A
• Would have an A+ if he finished on just one of those shots. He sure had some jump tonight and finally had some linemates that can keep up with him. Line 2 with Mazur and Shine and holy smokes they were dominant and all over the puck. Quick in transition, and quick on the attack. The line had a good first shift right off the opening faceoff and then cooked in the offensive zone during their 2nd shift. Shine almost buried from 15 feet out but just missed. 3rd shift they hemmed the T-Birds in the zone and Danielson drifted back on the doorstep to try a tap in feed and the puck trickled across the goal line

Shine fed Danielson and he got all of a one-timer in the slot but Ellis made a nice glove save

Mid-2nd shift with Snively and Watson had him feed Snively for a chance, and then drifted into the slot for an one-timer that just missed

PP mid-2nd he got ROBBED by Ellis all alone in the slot

Chances again at the start of the 3rd but couldn't bury lmao... he is so snakebitten. Yes I would like him to start finishing, but he's doing all the right things and I know he's gripping that stick when nothing is going in and he gets chance after chance. Dude had to have about 8-10 shot attempts. Puck was on his stick all night, in every zone


Mazur: A-
• Chemistry with Danielson and thank God coach made the change cause I was banging the table for this a lot

He, Danielson, Buium all looked great on the PP1 together on the first PP. Had a couple good looks but most importantly the puck movement was better than when they're stuck carrying lesser skilled guys on the PP, which has been part of the problem

He got absolutely robbed on that mid-2nd PP right in front from a great Danielson to Watson to Mazur play

Unfortunately he fumbled the chip-in entering the zone and the T-Bird fired it back down the ice into the empty net to make it 3-1


Wallinder: B-
• At the end of the 1st PP, Becher went to the left boards, avoided a check by making a spinning area pass to Wallinder at the left point, but Wallinder missed it. The T-Bird Peterson came out the box, went on a breakaway and scored. Now, the puck was bouncing slightly, but it was a soft pass that was slightly more to the middle, but as it went by WW looked flat footed and didn't catch the man coming so I wasn't impressed by his awareness and lack of urgency

Almost wired home a loose puck, got deflected out. He was getting quite a few shooting looks on the PP, but he's gotta wire one of them home

He made a cross ice stretch pass to absolutely nobody with under 4 mins left and iced the puck


Buium: B
• Made a bad pass into the middle of the NZ on a PP and T-Birds went right in and Campbell had to make a big save. He fumbled the puck just before that too. Kind of an off puck handling night for him

I do think he will need to work on the speed in which he pivots defending a rush. He might get beat against faster, stronger, better puck handling NHLers

Threw a couple funny looking hits lol. If this is the start of him trying to be a more physical player, I'm all for it

Otherwise, solid enough play overall


Tuomisto: A-
• Good keep at the line, made a quick pass to Johannes waiting in the slot who spun around to shoot and Seger cleaned up the rebound for the only Griffs goal

Escaping pressure, moving the puck well. I like how he just gets the puck on net. Been shooting a lot lately


Becher: A-
• I really like how well he tracks the puck when he doesn't have it, and I am really liking his decision making with the puck when he has it. Puck is continuing to follow him and he's making plays even with 3rd line AHL guys. He did an EXCELLENT job tracking the puck and had so many smart reads, touches, and plays on the PP in period 2

His line spent a great deal of time in the o-zone the shift shifting momentum right before Seger's line scored

Excellent first shift in period 2. Started a rush, give-and-go with Tuomisto and Becher went right to the net and almost roofed a backhand shot

They've relied on him being a transporter of the puck on PP2. Almost wired on home after another give-and-go with Tuomisto on the PP but Ellis made yet another nice pad save

Great pressure defensively and supporting the puck. Great work along the boards in the dirty areas using his body and getting possession



Since they're facing each other for the first time, I'll add my thoughts on #10 OA in 2023. I'm trying to be unbiased as possible, but I've watched him about 8 times in 2025 so I'm just trying to form an opinion of what this player is made of in the AHL

Dvorsky: B
• He's listed as a center but he takes the routes that a winger does. I notice a lot he's the F1 but he's center with lacking foot speed. Are they just telling him to skate wherever he wants due to his deficiency there? His line got pinned in where GR's 4th line scored the only goal of the night

In the late 2nd Watson ran over a guy just outside the Griffs blueline, Mazur came in to collect the puck and two T-Birds who are already focused and involved there, Dvorsky has his attention on this play where the Griffins go on a THREE ON ZERO and Rafferty couldn't bury the breakaway. I'm not sure he knew Danielson and Viro were with him. Dvorsky is the center and he focused his attention away from his position to that scrumb, instead of the puck? These are the plays, at least as a center that have me questioning his off-puck intelligence

Had a good faceoff win (he's pretty good on the dot) and got a shot off that Campbell swallowed up. Shift before that he stickhandled near the blueline escaping pressure and then fed a quick pass near the back door that the T-Bird couldn't handle

Definitely has nifty small area passing ability and quick hands, and if you let him loose he can definitely make you pay quickly. I just don't see him creating space with or without the puck as much as you'd think from looking at his stats. IMHO he has a lot of work to do as a prospect doing little things if he wants to produce in the NHL. He's 19 still though and the production can't be ignored. He has this summer to get stronger and quicker but for his development I would think, unless he has a monster offseason and training camp, he starts in Springfield in October and is first on the callup list for St. Louis. With added speed and defensive coaching, he could be a good #2 LW/RW, PP1 triggerman for the Blues
Great job once again. Look forward to your reports every game
 
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I mean this with respect since you obviously watch a lot of games, but I just don’t see how you can continuously give Danielson A grades game after game when he’s been pointless the majority of the time.
If I see a player continually doing the right things, utilizing teammates well, and creating chances on their own, I'll give you good grades. Not to mention he's a stud defensively every single game. Not just breaking up plays, but creating offensive transition more often than not. You can say my grades are generous based on his numbers, but players don't score every game unless they're McDavid or MacKinnon. So I'll watch if he does the things I stated above

Sometimes the puck just doesn't go in. I am shocked Danielson doesn't have at least 10-15 more points. I would say he's been pretty snake-bitten this year. What do I know though. I think this guy does many great things offensively and defensively that I believe will translate to surprisingly good numbers in the NHL. He's not going to drag his linemates through the mud offensively like a MacKinnon

Watching the point totals is that it doesn't factor all the little things and all the context. It's why scouts watch young players over and over to formulate opinions and not highlight packages or stat sheets

Next, you factor in the team and the system they play under. Red Wings roster has gone 15-5-1 under Todd McLellan vs Lalonde. A drastic change with the same team. GR are 6th in goals against, and 26th in goals for. Dan Watson's system is predicated on defense-first play. The AHL in general is a low scoring league too

If Danielson makes a bad play, or isn't handling passes, or is not shooting the puck, I have called him out for that. Some games he has been quieter offensively than others, but he frequently displays very good offensive talent and the ability to generate high-percentage plays on his own. He has clearly shown the ability to adjust to pro hockey in that regard

I give guys like Wallinder, who's played many years of pro hockey including an AHL rookie season last year and is approaching age 23, lower grades because of their decision making at this level. Not to mention he's not very good at generating offense, something he was prided on in the SHL

I try to call it like I see it. If a player in the AHL has a lazy, terrible giveaway and the pucks ends up in their net, they will get something of a C- grade. Even a D if they outright suck the entire game
 
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If I see a player continually doing the right things, utilizing teammates well, and creating chances on their own, I'll give you good grades. Not to mention he's a stud defensively every single game. Not just breaking up plays, but creating offensive transition more often than not. You can say my grades are generous based on his numbers, but players don't score every game unless they're McDavid or MacKinnon. So I'll watch if he does the things I stated above

Sometimes the puck just doesn't go in. I am shocked Danielson doesn't have at least 10-15 more points. I would say he's been pretty snake-bitten this year. What do I know though. I think this guy does many great things offensively and defensively that I believe will translate to surprisingly good numbers in the NHL. He's not going to drag his linemates through the mud offensively like a MacKinnon

Watching the point totals is that it doesn't factor all the little things and all the context. It's why scouts watch young players over and over to formulate opinions and not highlight packages or stat sheets

Next, you factor in the team and the system they play under. Red Wings roster has gone 15-5-1 under Todd McLellan vs Lalonde. A drastic change with the same team. GR are 6th in goals against, and 26th in goals for. Dan Watson's system is predicated on defense-first play. The AHL in general is a low scoring league too

If Danielson makes a bad play, or isn't handling passes, or is not shooting the puck, I have called him out for that. Some games he has been quieter offensively than others, but he frequently displays very good offensive talent and the ability to generate high-percentage plays on his own. He has clearly shown the ability to adjust to pro hockey in that regard

I give guys like Wallinder, who's played many years of pro hockey including an AHL rookie season last year and is approaching age 23, lower grades because of their decision making at this level. Not to mention he's not very good at generating offense, something he was prided on in the SHL

I try to call it like I see it. If a player in the AHL has a lazy, terrible giveaway and the pucks ends up in their net, they will get something of a C- grade. Even a D if they outright suck the entire game
But at some point he needs to start producing. He was a top 10 pick, he’s put up points in just 3 of his last 21 games.
 
But at some point he needs to start producing. He was a top 10 pick, he’s put up points in just 3 of his last 21 games.
I agree. On the stat sheet it's tough looking at zeroes game after game. It's even harder watching the Griffins get shutout like they did 3 games in a row

I'm optimistic that once Lombardi comes back soon the team will be cooking up more offense to which Danielson will benefit greatly from, especially on the stats sheet

We'll see how this plays out down the stretch
 
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All but a very few of the highest scoring players need to play with skilled players to put up points. The Griffins have been without Mazur, Lombardi and now Soderblom, whose promotion coincides with Danielson's and the team's recent offensive struggles. Berggren, AlJo and Ed are in the NHL full-time. There simply isn't a lot of offensive talent unless everyone's healthy and even then, it's still a defensive-oriented team and good because of it. Another issue is the PP. The Griffins are 25th OA on the PP at 17.0 per cent, after finishing 26th on the PP last season at 17.2 per cent. PP production usually plays a big part in a team's best players' point totals, but it isn't happening for GR prospects.

I'm not worried about Danielson's NHL future, he's always to me seemed more likely to be a Danault/William Karlson type than a 70-point 2C. What he does in the playoffs will be a better gauge of where he is and the value he has than anything that happens the rest of the regular season.
 
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OT win! Uneventful OT but thankfully closed it off. Much better 3rd period, I think they outshot Iowa 13-4

Coach Watson questionable line decisions before the game splitting up last game's dominant Mazur/Danielson/Shine line, putting Watson with the other two and moving Mazur to line 1. He moved Mazur off PP1 as well

Team was making some downright boneheaded plays defensively and not clearing the puck cleanly and it eventually began to cost them

Bad effort on the 5 on 3 they had. Shots getting blocked and barely tested Hlavaj. ONE shot on net. Stop getting too cute... just SHOOT the puck. Snively did score on a PP in the 3rd on a nice shot. Iowa is dead last in the AHL on the PK. We get so spoiled watching the Red Wings PP lmao...


Danielson: A-
• Fed Shine who just missed right in close on the first PP. End of the 1st he fanned on a shot but then corralled it to Shine who had a wide open net and shot it through the crease

Wheeled around to the blueline and let one go to which Snively tipped it off his screen for the first goal

Here and there on the PP was a bit hesitant passing the puck

Fed Watson cross ice in the early 3rd who had all day in the slot and somehow his shot deflected out of play... Watson's been taking longer to get his slower

Ugh ironically (see Danielson thread today) he made that centering rush pass on the last PP and it got easily picked off. However they got back in and he had a great chance in the slot but Hlavaj came up big with a high shoulder save


Cossa: B+
• So composed in net and doesn't need a lot of movement. When he does move he's quick and doesn't over-commit. Tracking the puck well from distance too

See Wallinder Re: first goal against

No idea how the 2nd goal got through him. Weird looking goal that kinda got shoveled past him or deflected off Dries

3rd goal Didier had 100 years to clear the puck and decided to drop it back and get intercepted, Wild 15 seconds later made him pay on the PP. Would have liked him to snag that with the glove

Man at the end of the 1st he missed stopping the puck going through his crease and the Wild player right on his doorstep tried to fire it home but Cossa made an unreal recovery save and laid down on the rebound lol

Very nice point blank pad save to start the 2nd


Mazur: A-
• He's so good. Future NHLer in some capacity. Hopefully he gets a shot with Detroit and runs with it. He's good defensively IMO and doesn't give up on a puck

Period 1 he hunted down the defender, incepted the pass on the attempted clear, then batted the puck down to himself which kept the zone and 15 seconds later led to the Griffins first goal

He fed Snively on the PP who hit the crossbar. Snively was super excellent today

Mazur has a quick deceptive release that he will let go from even an angle being somewhat flat footed. He could do well shooting off pads more maybe being paired with some crease crashers


Wallinder: C
• Almost gave him a C- to be honest. He got an assist on Snively's PP snipe. First Griffins goal against - took the puck carrier on a 3 on 1 instead of lying down to cut off the angle from both passers... Made a terrible looking kneeling play as the puck carrier fed the far side and Cossa had little chance against it

Once again showing poor passing ability using the boards multiple times this game including the start of the 2nd where he failed to connect a clean pass across ice to Tuomisto and the Wild gain control, held the zone. Immediately after this, he has enough time and space but sends a god awful flubbed chip barely to the half-wall where Iowa kept hemming in the Griffins. Him and Tuomisto couldn't get off and resulted in Wallinder getting forechecked hard cause he was tired, made a couple soft plays where the puck squirted to Cossa and he scrambled to cover it for a much needed whistle

Aimlessly goes for a rush and skates into a Wild player, falls on his back, and the Wild went the other way only briefly, thankfully

Just gonna throw an observation out there: he seemingly has really odd, uncomfortable looking body language

In OT he looks somewhat comfortable again. He's used to more space on the ice like in Europe and I'm not sure he ever figures it out in North America. There's a lot I just don't like here, including his passing ability and vision


Buium: B
• Quiet game I'd say, but he had one shift all over Iowa took a spinning shot that Hlavaj barely got a pad on


Tuomisto: A-
• Got a feed from Danielson on a rush and made a nice move to cut past the D and get a shot off. He's surprisingly nifty with the puck here and there you'll see him apply some calculated puck skills

Shooter mentality once again, good to see. He was solid defensively using his size, cutting down the space his attackers had


Becher: A-
• Assist on the Snively PP goal. The next shift he had, anticipated and then picked off a pass on the right wall and took a hot wrist shot but it was in the upper chest of Hlavaj

Hustling back defensively to mitigate odd-man rushes. He's showing nice breakout ability after recovering the puck defensivelyy too. Smart player along the boards, but doesn't lose his spot in the middle. Talking about both zones. Another good game for the kid
 

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