Prospect Info: Grand Rapids Griffins, 2024 - 2025 Season

[HoweFan]

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

You are renewing my faith in Tuo. Maybe he should be called up with Buium. Along with Wally that’s three big dmen that will be in Detroit if given the chance. I refuse to give up on Wallinder

 

[Our Lady Peace]

You are renewing my faith in Tuo. Maybe he should be called up with Buium. Along with Wally that’s three big dmen that will be in Detroit if given the chance. I refuse to give up on Wallinder

I admit, I've been hard on him previously until @Coach Reggie Dunlop nudged me to provide some updates on him. I didn't appreciate him enough, and he deserved more love. He also carries the Wallinder pairing

His game is steady, underappreciated, and he does a lot of things right that go unnoticed. I can see translatable play at both ends of the ice, mainly defensively. I think he's worth giving a cup of coffee to. I'm unsure if he becomes an NHL regular, but he's only 24 and maybe he's a late bloomer

 

[Hazy Little Thing]

53 PIM for Iowa, just 15 for GR, what fun was Iowa up to with that kind of disparity?

 

[RED WINGS STOMP]

I admit, I've been hard on him previously until @Coach Reggie Dunlop nudged me to provide some updates on him. I didn't appreciate him enough, and he deserved more love. He also carries the Wallinder pairing

His game is steady, underappreciated, and he does a lot of things right that go unnoticed. I can see translatable play at both ends of the ice, mainly defensively. I think he's worth giving a cup of coffee to. I'm unsure if he becomes an NHL regular, but he's only 24 and maybe he's a late bloomer

I think a lot on this board hate on Tuo because he was a bit of a reach at his pick and he was a Tyler Wright pick.

Dude has a chance, big RHDs get chances because they are hard to find. He has a decent shot from the point, thought he was decent in his own end during preseason.

He may be getting Johansson treatment to start next year, he will be our 7 D with some scratches.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

53 PIM for Iowa, just 15 for GR, what fun was Iowa up to with that kind of disparity?

Watson accidentally ran out of space and bowled over the goalie so a guy came in to fight him

Then a couple shifts after Johannes scores his goal and taunts the fans behind him, a Wild player goes and basically jumps him

Wild were taking some bad lazy penalties outside of all that too

 

[Geezer WC]

Watson accidentally ran out of space and bowled over the goalie so a guy came in to fight him

Then a couple shifts after Johannes scores his goal and taunts the fans behind him, a Wild player goes and basically jumps him

Wild were taking some bad lazy penalties outside of all that too

Accidentally on purpose?

 

[Our Lady Peace]

Accidentally on purpose?

Knowing Watson, I wouldn't doubt that. He does try to play good guy a lot unless you f*** with his goalie or teammates and make him mad

 

[Our Lady Peace]

Finally hammered the Wild with the empty net. Otherwise, nothing doing. This team is anemic offensively and something has to give. Once again had a ton of 5 on 3 time and didn't do anything with it. Iowa had all those penalties and then the Griffins said "we can take more penalties that you, just watch". Sometimes I feel like I'm watching Derek Lalonde's system

Lines:
Snively - Dries - Mazur
Shine - Danielson - Watson
Gettinger - Becher - Doucet
Johannes - Seger - Hanas

Wallinder - Tuomisto
Buium - Didier
Viro - Rafferty

Husso
Campbell


Danielson: A-
• I love Austin Watson but for the love of God he is too slow being on Danielson's wing. Need Mazur back there ASAP. With that being said, with the net empty, good move shifting high right to high left, fed Shine who shot and Mazur cleaned up on the doorstep

2nd shift of the game he hopped off the bench, corralled a difficult pass with some soft hands, broke in loose and JUST missed top left

Hit the post on the 5 on 3 and then with Wallstedt down and out, Dries somehow missed the rebound on the doorstep and Watson was right there too, sleeping apparently

He runs himself out of plays sometimes when carrying into the zone and nobody is with him. Now, if he's straddled with Watson, that's already one slug that can't keep up and be Danielson's support on the rush. Shine and Mazur can, and that's why the line was dominant vs Springfield, speed, pace, and support on entry and then they forechecked like demons

We've all said it, but Danielson has to start finishing some shots. Looks like nerves at times. He is getting opportunities to shoot and taking more shots attempts. Just shooting it gave him the assist last game on the Snively tip goal. Needs to improve being a one-timer threat on the PP. Be like Tuomisto and just rip those shots off


Mazur: A
• Nice screen and redirection on the Wallinder point shot. Finished the 2nd goal on the doorstep after a relentless barrage that finally broke Wallstedt. This team needs to put the puck in the net and only he could

Made an errant pass with no coverage with him in the opposing blueline and it got picked off for a breakaway that Husso saved. He did bust his ass to get back and cover the other attacker

In the late 3rd Wallinder stepped in from the left point, Mazur dropped back and as WW did a little drop pass to him, he was flat footed and the Wild player poked it, had an odd man rush, but Mazur hustled his ass off and stick lifted him before his shot. As he's falling down he pokes it to Snively who exits the zone

Looked more dangerous in the 3rd, had a golden kneeling one-timer chance in front during a great o-zone shift, no idea how that deflected wide


Wallinder: B
• Good read to go for the point shot as Mazur was screening, who got a piece of it. He got better as the game went on

Was easily separated from the puck by a forechecker and his team spent a great deal of time in his zone because of that

Under duress, his board passes are almost always just hail Marys. Puts the same amount of juice on virtually every single one hoping a teammate is there to handle it. With a bit more time, he can make decent short range passes. He did this well on a mid 3rd PP and the Griffs cleared. You're not gonna have as much time in the NHL, though


Buium: B
• Joined the rush a bunch of times in the 1st period and was active offensively. Heavy shooting prowess on the PP in the 2nd period and in the 3rd as well

The 2nd Wild goal on the PK he tried to tie up the Wild stick but he had better position on Buium and tapped it into the open net off a cross ice pass. Buiums gotta take more explosive strides there to establish body position beat his man to the space. That was one of few times he even got on the PK due to Viro's penalty

Made a good play sealing off a player on the rush but kind of threw a soft backhand into the middle out of Becher's reach. Thankfully didn't amount to much pressure and a shot deflected into the netting

Otherwise, he was doing his job well separating man from puck and neutralizing the attack


Tuomisto: A-
• In his own zone he makes nice little passes under duress to supporting teammates. Good solid game. Moving the puck well


Becher: B
• Quiet and decent game, nothing bad. Late 3rd had a chance right in front and as it seemed he might've been able to shoot it, he tried to drag it across the crease and it got poked away

 

[RED WINGS STOMP]

Bad from tonight, Griffs lose.

Good from tonight, Mazur scored both goals, Nate got another point.

 

[Hazy Little Thing]

Finally hammered the Wild with the empty net. Otherwise, nothing doing. This team is anemic offensively and something has to give. Once again had a ton of 5 on 3 time and didn't do anything with it. Iowa had all those penalties and then the Griffins said "we can take more penalties that you, just watch". Sometimes I feel like I'm watching Derek Lalonde's system


Danielson: A-
• I love Austin Watson but for the love of God he is too slow being on Danielson's wing. Need Mazur back there ASAP. With that being said, with the net empty, good move shifting high right to high left, fed Shine who shot and Mazur cleaned up on the doorstep

2nd shift of the game he hopped off the bench, corralled a difficult pass with some soft hands, broke in loose and JUST missed top left

Hit the post on the 5 on 3 and then with Wallstedt down and out, Dries somehow missed the rebound on the doorstep and Watson was right there too, sleeping apparently

He runs himself out of plays sometimes when carrying into the zone and nobody is with him. Now, if he's straddled with Watson, that's already one slug that can't keep up and be Danielson's support on the rush. Shine and Mazur can, and that's why the line was dominant vs Springfield, speed, pace, and support on entry and then they forechecked like demons

We've all said it, but Danielson has to start finishing some shots. Looks like nerves at times. He is getting opportunities to shoot and taking more shots attempts. Just shooting it gave him the assist last game on the Snively tip goal. Needs to improve being a one-timer threat on the PP. Be like Tuomisto and just rip those shots off


Mazur: A
• Nice screen and redirection on the Wallinder point shot. Finished the 2nd goal on the doorstep after a relentless barrage that finally broke Wallstedt. This team needs to put the puck in the net and only he could

Made an errant pass with no coverage with him in the opposing blueline and it got picked off for a breakaway that Husso saved. He did bust his ass to get back and cover the other attacker

In the late 3rd Wallinder stepped in from the left point, Mazur dropped back and as WW did a little drop pass to him, he was flat footed and the Wild player poked it, had an odd man rush, but Mazur hustled his ass off and stick lifted him before his shot. As he's falling down he pokes it to Snively who exits the zone

Looked more dangerous in the 3rd, had a golden kneeling one-timer chance in front during a great o-zone shift, no idea how that deflected wide


Wallinder: B
• Good read to go for the point shot as Mazur was screening, who got a piece of it. He got better as the game went on

Was easily separated from the puck by a forechecker and his team spent a great deal of time in his zone because of that

Under duress, his board passes are almost always just hail Marys. Puts the same amount of juice on virtually every single one hoping a teammate is there to handle it. With a bit more time, he can make decent short range passes. He did this well on a mid 3rd PP and the Griffs cleared. You're not gonna have as much time in the NHL, though


Buium: B
• Joined the rush a bunch of times in the 1st period and was active offensively. Heavy shooting prowess on the PP in the 2nd period and in the 3rd as well

The 2nd Wild goal on the PK he tried to tie up the Wild stick but he had better position on Buium and tapped it into the open net off a cross ice pass. Buiums gotta take more explosive strides there to establish body position beat his man to the space. That was one of few times he even got on the PK due to Viro's penalty

Made a good play sealing off a player on the rush but kind of threw a soft backhand into the middle out of Becher's reach. Thankfully didn't amount to much pressure and a shot deflected into the netting

Otherwise, he was doing his job well separating man from puck and neutralizing the attack


Tuomisto: A-
• In his own zone he makes nice little passes under duress to supporting teammates. Good solid game. Moving the puck well


Becher: B
• Quiet and decent game, nothing bad. Late 3rd had a chance right in front and as it seemed he might've been able to shoot it, he tried to drag it across the crease and it got poked away

This is just me giving some general feedback while loving your updates. I think it would be awesome if you listed the general line combos at the top of your recap posts for context.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

This is just me giving some general feedback while loving your updates. I think it would be awesome if you listed the general line combos at the top of your recap posts for context.

I sure can, no problem

I'll make that edit to tonight's and last night's

 

[Winger98]

Are Watson and Shine (and before that Elmer) being stapled to Danielson to help keep the flies off because he's a rookie?

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

Does anyone think Detroit gets some Grand Rapids help at the NHL trade deadline?

 

[lilidk]

Does anyone think Detroit gets some Grand Rapids help at the NHL trade deadline?

I think so . Some of GR kids will go to other teams

 

[LongTimeDRWF]

Does anyone think Detroit gets some Grand Rapids help at the NHL trade deadline?

If nothing else, I expect Finnie, MBN and ASP to arrive far enough ahead of the Calder playoffs to useful to the Griffs....

But, the wings currently have 3 contract slots open, so they might get some college kids too, one or two of Strange, Savage and maybe a long shot on Trey or another college FA.

 

[wingerdinger]

I think a lot on this board hate on Tuo because he was a bit of a reach at his pick and he was a Tyler Wright pick.

Dude has a chance, big RHDs get chances because they are hard to find. He has a decent shot from the point, thought he was decent in his own end during preseason.

He may be getting Johansson treatment to start next year, he will be our 7 D with some scratches.

I'm ready to see Tuomisto try to lockdown that right side on the 3rd pair, than watch Holl be a clown.

 

[roman star]

losing aljo is a huge huge loss for griffs . nobody to handle puck cleanly in own end , plus rush puck up then qb the o zone . we see how good hes doing on redwings , so imagine how valuable he is to griffs . mean while isnt anybody down there on d capable of helping the attack much

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

If nothing else, I expect Finnie, MBN and ASP to arrive far enough ahead of the Calder playoffs to useful to the Griffs....

But, the wings currently have 3 contract slots open, so they might get some college kids too, one or two of Strange, Savage and maybe a long shot on Trey or another college FA.

Sounds good.

But I was thinking of an AHL vet kinda thing.

 

[Henkka]

Sounds good.

But I was thinking of an AHL vet kinda thing.

You mean AHL pro try-outs... which are outside of NHL contract limits.

And that's how those late season add-ons are always made.

 

[newfy]

You mean AHL pro try-outs... which are outside of NHL contract limits.

And that's how those late season add-ons are always made.

I think he's talking about trading for a good AHL player or two

 

[SantosHalper]

I think he's talking about trading for a good AHL player or two

McIlrath, eh? Or "Bart" Skinner, the sealing deals of the 2013 & 2017 Calder cups.

 

[LongTimeDRWF]

Sounds good.

But I was thinking of an AHL vet kinda thing.

For sure, I could see that happening too, SY values a Calder run as good for the franchise even if looks good for the wings to make the show too, they would be wise to have lots of depth all around for after both TDLs.