Brogan Rafferty earned five call-ups this season without getting into an NHL game, but that hasn’t changed his goal to suit up for the Red Wings team he grew up cheering for
Brogan Rafferty earned five call-ups this season without getting into an NHL game, but that hasn’t changed his goal to suit up for the Red Wings team he grew up cheering for
Brogan Rafferty could drive the 2 hour and 20 minute drive from Grand Rapids to Detroit blindfolded if you made him.
It’s a route that spawned plenty of new playlists from his musical experimentation, and one that allowed him to catch up with friends and family through plentiful phone calls. Most importantly, the 157-mile journey between the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate and the big club got Rafferty closer and closer to his dream of playing in the NHL again.
Yet each of the five times he was called up this season, he never made it into a game.
“Every time you see me (called up) on Twitter or whatever, I’m in the car, driving over,” Rafferty told The Hockey News last month. “Most of the time I would get called up for a game day for Detroit. So I would get called up and go to the rink, and essentially just take warm up with Detroit and then get undressed after warm up because I wasn’t playing. And I would drive back to Grand Rapids that night because more times than not, we had a game in Grand Rapids the next day that I was playing in.”
All that hustle and grind came from Rafferty’s goal to play for the Detroit Red Wings team he grew up cheering for, a level of hockey he feels the most prepared for in his career. Yet in his five call-ups, he never got into a game. It was almost a game day tradition for the Red Wings — resurface the ice, pop the popcorn, and don’t forget to call up Rafferty from Grand Rapids.
In that role, it would be easy to get discouraged. For a defenseman who will turn 29 next month, his shelf life to get into a game is ticking down. For a guy who hasn’t gotten his shot in the NHL since he was on the Vancouver Canucks’ taxi squad during the 2020-21 pandemic season, being within arm’s reach of a dream could also create a sense of desperation.
After all, Rafferty has the resume to earn at least a cup of coffee in the NHL. He was an AHL all-star last season, playing a big two-way role for a Coachella Valley team that lost Game 7 of the Calder Cup finals in its first-ever season. He’s a talented player who has polished his game since his last NHL stint, but the opportunity to get back there has to surface, too. When exactly that happens isn’t something he can control.
For Rafferty, gutting out traffic on I-96 is just a step he’s come to accept in his goal of playing in the NHL again.
“I don’t really look at myself as old, but I am 28 turning 29,” Rafferty said. “But I’m still hungry as ever to play games in the NHL and to make an impact and to help Detroit win. So when I get called up like that, no matter what time of day it is or the scenario that I’m in, I’m happy to do it and it’s exciting for me.”
His excitement extends from how close he gets to getting back to the NHL, but it also stems from his hockey fandom growing up. Back before the days when Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews made a dynasty out of Chicago, the Illinois-born Rafferty didn’t find much hype in his hometown team. Games were blacked out on local TV stations, and crowds lulled in a half-capacity United Center.
Instead, a team four hours up I-94 caught Rafferty’s eye: the Pavel Datsyuk-led Red Wings. He hopped on the bandwagon alongside one of his friends. Now, Rafferty has come within minutes of playing for those same Red Wings he grew up idolizing, though every time he got sent down before getting into a single game.
At this point, a call-up seems unlikely for the rest of this season. With eight rostered defensemen right now, the Red Wings don’t seem to need him just yet. Maybe next season, Rafferty can get a shot to make the Detroit squad on the second year of the deal he signed before this season.
In the meantime, Rafferty has become a key cog on a playoff-bound Griffins blueline. He played alongside left-handed Albert Johansson for the majority of the season before recently pairing on his offhand with righty Wyatt Newpower. In the process, Rafferty’s blend of physical defense and deft passing has helped him bring a polished two-way game for the Griffins. He’s their second-leading scorer among defensemen, behind only Simon Edvinsson who has since been called up to the NHL. His plus-13 rating ranks third among Griffins defensemen, too.
“For me over my career, I’ve noticed my game is a lot more well-rounded,” Rafferty said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more ready to play in the NHL than I am now. So in terms of that, I take a lot of pride in that.”
Some of that success extends from Rafferty’s usage in beneficial positions. Under first-year Grand Rapids coach Dan Watson, Rafferty has become a stalwart on the second pairing, keeping games under control without being stretched too thin.
“He’s a kind of guy who understands each player and what makes them tick and what they need to be put in certain situations to succeed and what they need to be told in order to get the best out of them,” Rafferty said. “I really appreciate that about him. Especially as a first year coach, he shows a lot of maturity in those scenarios.”
This is the kind of role that he could use in an NHL call-up — not taking over a game, but playing a quiet game that advances his team’s efforts without holding anything back. In a world where explosive prospects get all the hype, a quiet and consistent player of Rafferty’s style often gets overlooked.
It’s that calm and veteran poise that made Detroit turn to Rafferty when injuries piled up and they needed someone on standby. It’s the reason he spent more than two hours driving each way just for the chance to play in a game. In a way, he had to balance playing for two teams.
“It felt like that for a couple of weeks there for sure, but I mean that’s what you signed up for,” Rafferty said. “That’s part of the job and I was happy to do it.”
Still, Rafferty says he doesn’t mind the call-up niche he carved out this season. After all, he’s got to get called up to get in an NHL game, and there’s a lot of wisdom in the cliche that the best ability is availability.
“Obviously I’d like to get into games and stuff, that’s the goal,” Rafferty said. “But for right now where I’m at and Grand Rapids, we’re in a good spot.”
Rafferty is willing to take that two hour and 20 minute drive down I-96 for the chance to get in an NHL game with Detroit. With every mile, his goal of playing for the Red Wings comes closer, and while it hasn’t happened yet, being there is a step in the right direction.
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