Detroit's AHL Griffins Start Season Friday, Featuring Lineup of Marquee Prospects

While all eyes turn to the Detroit Red Wings and their season opener Friday, it also marks the start of the season for their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, who enter the year on the heels of a historic 51-win campaign. 

The Griffins look to rebound after a season that ended earlier than expected with a quarterfinal exit in the Central Division Finals. Grand Rapids will open on the road Friday against the Cleveland Monsters, the affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets, before wrapping up the two-game set Sunday afternoon.

They return to the ice after its franchise-best season with an almost completely different-looking roster, one that blends several veteran voices with plenty of youthful additions and should give Red Wings fans an exciting look at the future. 

Providing experience will be a familiar cast led by captain Dominik Shine and John Leonard, both of whom saw minutes with Detroit last season and will look to pass along their big-league experience to a roster packed with youngsters. Sheldon Dries, coming off a solid 45-point season at 32 years old, also anchors the veteran core.

In goal, Michal Postava and Trey Augustine return and appear likely to split starts, with both netminders on track to bid for potential NHL roles in the near future. Postava looks to build on a historic season in which he posted a 1.71 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage in 25 regular-season games, both franchise records for a season. 

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Augustine draws the most attention as one of the Red Wings' fastest-rising prospects and a candidate to become the team's long-term answer in net after John Gibson, who is in the final year of his current contract, making this a crucial season for the young goaltender.

The wave of newcomers includes several marquee names, led by 2025 first-round pick Carter Bear, who is making the leap to the pro level but will begin the season on injured reserve with an upper-body injury that is not expected to keep him out long-term. 

Bear joins eight other rookies, including forwards Dylan James, Kienan Draper, Noah Dower Nilsson, Sutter Muzzatti and Jesse Kiiskinen, and defensemen Justice Christensen and Jacob Truscott as well as the aforementioned Trey Augustine, who joined the Griffins to end off last season.

The group will look quite different from the one that put together a franchise-best season a year ago, but it enters Friday night with plenty of intrigue for the future of the Red Wings franchise.

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