The Detroit Red Wings and Grand Rapids Griffins are a perfect match, and they won’t be splitting up anytime soon. The teams announced a five-year extension of their affiliation agreement today, continuing through at least the 2026-27 season.
It’s already been two decades since the teams first partnered, nearly the entire history of the Griffins since arriving in the AHL. In fact, the success of the Griffins and their geographical proximity to Detroit has been emulated by many teams around the league, who have sought to bring their minor league programs closer to home.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman released a statement:
Grand Rapids continues to be a model franchise both on and off the ice and we’re excited to continue our partnership. The winning culture established by the Griffins is extremely beneficial for the development of our young players and the fans in Grand Rapids do a tremendous job creating an exciting atmosphere to support the growth of our players.
That winning culture has resulted in two Calder Cup championships in the last decade, as Grand Rapids took down the Syracuse Crunch in both 2013 and 2017 to hoist the trophy. Even as that success has waned in the last few years, the development program there has still been a huge boon for the Red Wings.
Perhaps there has been no better example of late than Moritz Seider, who spent the entire 2019-20 season with the Griffins after being selected sixth overall. Not only did he make an impact for Grand Rapids but you could see his incredible development as soon as he hit the ice the following season, stepping into the SHL and dominating at both ends of the ice. After winning rookie of the year in the NHL, Seider is set to become another top alumnus of the program.
Detroit’s been doing the AHL right for the better part of half a century. For most of that time, they’ve had just two affiliations: Glens Falls and Grand Rapids. Both teams have been winners, and both teams have sent seasoned players to the bigs.
With all the musical-chairs games so many other NHL teams play with their AHL affiliates — there are only TWO surviving teams from the first year I was a season ticket holder in Springfield in 1988, and only six from before 2000 — it’s surprising that so few clubs emulate Detroit’s pattern.
Agreed. Seems like clubs like Grand Rapids, Hershey, Rochester, and Providence are hard to come by. The musical chairs game i believe is hurting the AHL’s brand. Hopefully teams start to figure it out.