Dominating the AHL season with historic records, the Griffins now eye the Calder Cup, ready to prove their mettle despite roster challenges.
The Detroit Red Wings’ AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, have completed one of the most dominant regular seasons in league history and now turn their attention to the Calder Cup Playoffs, where they await the winner of the divisional first-round series between the Manitoba Moose and Milwaukee Admirals.
Grand Rapids set a remarkable standard throughout the 2025-26 campaign, establishing the best record in AHL history through 35, 40, and 50 games, while also finishing with the second-best mark in league history through both 45 and 55 games.
The Griffins closed out the regular season with a 51-16-4-1 record, earning the top seed in the Eastern Conference despite a late loss to the Cleveland Monsters. The finish still secured them home-ice advantage and underscored a year-long level of dominance that few teams in league history have matched.
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What makes Grand Rapids’ season even more notable is the adversity they overcame along the way. The club frequently dealt with injuries and constant roster turnover due to NHL call-ups from Detroit, forcing lineup adjustments almost nightly coming down the final stretch of the season.
Looking ahead to the postseason, the Griffins are expected to regain additional reinforcement from the Red Wings pipeline. Prospects such as Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Dominik Shine, Carter Mazur, and Axel Sandin-Pellikka are among those anticipated to bolster the roster as playoff hockey begins.
With their historic regular season now complete, Grand Rapids enters the playoffs not only as the top seed in their conference, but as one of the clear championship contenders.
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