Calder Cup Champions - 2013 & 2017
AHL Affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings
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Griffins NHL Alumni

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Pipeline to the NHL

Since the Griffins' inception in 1996, 207 different players - 28 goalies and 179 skaters - have gone on to play at least one game in the National Hockey League.

Some of the more accomplished members of the Griffins' alumni class include 20 Stanley Cup champions, two members of the Triple Gold Club -- Stanley Cup champ, Olympic gold, World Championship gold -- (Niklas Kronwall and Valtteri Filppula), one Calder Trophy winner (Moritz Seider), another Calder Trophy finalist (Jimmy Howard), and two Lady Byng winners (Pavol Demitra and Jiri Hudler).

A few facts of note:

  • A Griffins alumnus has had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup in each of the last five years, 11 times in the last 17 years, and 13 times in the last 20 seasons.
     
  • Fifteen former Griffins were on the playoff roster of the 2008 Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, nine of whom had their names engraved on the Cup: Niklas Kronwall, Jiri Hudler, Valtteri Filppula, Brett Lebda, Derek Meech, Darren Helm, Tomas Kopecky, Darren McCarty and Chris Osgood.
     
  • Thirty-two Griffins alumni logged ice time with 16 NHL teams during the 2023-24 season.
     
  • All 32 NHL teams have had a former Griffin play for them at some point.
     
  • One hundred eight players have made their NHL debuts after first playing for the Griffins, including 71 who made their debut during the same season they played in Grand Rapids.
     
  • On Oct. 4, 2018, defensemen Dennis Cholowski, Flip Hronek and Libor Sulak all made their NHL debuts with Detroit, marking the first time that three players joined the Griffins' NHL alumni ranks on the same day.
     
  • In addition, three Griffins head coaches - Guy Charron, Bruce Cassidy and Jeff Blashill - moved on to the NHL the season after winning Coach of the Year honors in Grand Rapids, while three assistant coaches eventually advanced to assistant positions in the NHL (Curtis Hunt, Kelly Miller and Todd Nelson). Cassidy also won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach in 2019-20 while with Boston.
Graduate #PlayerNHL Debut/Return2023-24 NHL Club
1Pavol Demitra3/17/97 STL at PHX-
2Kevyn Adams*10/1/97 TOR vs. WSH-
3Tyler Moss*10/28/97 CGY vs. PIT
 
-
 
4
 
Michel Picard
 
1/6/98 STL at SJ
 
-
 
5
 
Jeff Nelson
 
10/10/98 NSH vs. FLA
 
-
 
6
 
Patrick Traverse
 
10/10/98 OTT at COL
 
-
 
7
 
Mark Greig
 
1/7/99 PHI vs. NYI
 
-
 
8
 
Radim Bicanek
 
2/1/99 OTT at VAN
 
-
 
9
 
Robert Petrovicky
 
2/15/99 TB at NYI
 
-
 
10
 
Andrei Vasilyev
 
3/5/99 PHX vs. DET
 
-
 
11
 
Todd Hlushko
 
4/25/99 PIT vs. NJ
 
-
 
12
 
Patrick Lalime
 
10/2/99 OTT at PHI
 
-
 
13
 
Glen Metropolit*
 
10/2/99 WSH at FLA
 
-
 
14
 
Kevin Miller
 
10/31/99 OTT at ATL
 
-
 
15
 
Karel Rachunek*
 
10/31/99 OTT at ATL
 
-
 
16
 
Erich Goldmann*
 
11/11/99 OTT vs. NSH
 
-
 
17
 
Yves Sarault
 
11/20/99 OTT at NJ
 
-
 
18
 
John Gruden
 
11/30/99 OTT vs. CHI
 
-
 
19
 
Mike Fountain
 
12/3/99 OTT at NJ
 
-
 
20
 
Dave Van Drunen*
 
12/13/99 OTT at TOR
 
-
 
21
 
Petr Schastlivy*
 
1/3/00 OTT vs. NJ
 
-
 
22
 
John Emmons*
 
1/6/00 OTT vs. PHX
 
-
 
23
 
Slava Butsayev
 
1/28/00 OTT at BUF
 
-
 
24
 
Aris Brimanis
 
2/13/00 NYI at NYR
 
-
 
25
 
Dieter Kochan*
 
3/28/00 TB vs. DAL
 
-
 
26
 
Jani Hurme*
 
4/9/00 OTT vs. TB
 
-
 
27
 
Shane Hnidy*
 
10/5/00 OTT at BOS
 
-
 
28
 
Donald MacLean
 
10/14/00 TOR vs. OTT
 
-
 
29
 
David Oliver
 
11/4/00 OTT vs. CBJ
 
-
 
30
 
Jamie Rivers
 
11/12/00 OTT at CAR
 
-
 
31
 
Sean Gagnon
 
11/26/00 OTT at NYR
 
-
 
32
 
Joel Bouchard
 
11/29/00 PHX at COL
 
-
 
33
 
Mike Crowley
 
12/8/00 ANA at MIN
 
-
 
34
 
Ivan Ciernik
 
1/23/01 OTT at NYI
 
-
 
35
 
Darren Rumble
 
2/6/01 STL at COL
 
-
 
36
 
Joel Kwiatkowski*
 
2/19/01 OTT at BUF
 
-
 
37
 
Todd White
 
2/19/01 OTT at BUF
 
-
 
38
 
Chris Neil*
 
10/3/01 OTT at TOR
 
-
 
39
 
Toni Dahlman*
 
1/3/02 OTT vs. WSH
 
-
 
40
 
Steve Martins
 
1/11/02 OTT at FLA
 
-
 
41
 
Kip Miller
 
1/17/02 NYI at SJ
 
-
 
42
 
Jody Hull (cs)
 
2/4/02 OTT at TB
 
-
 
43
 
Dmitry Afanasenkov
 
2/6/02 TB at FLA
 
-
 
44
 
Simon Lajeunesse*
 
3/7/02 OTT at SJ
 
-
 
45
 
Martin Prusek*
 
3/23/02 OTT vs. ATL
 
-
 
46
 
Chris Bala*
 
3/27/02 OTT at NYI
 
-
 
47
 
Neil Little*
 
3/28/02 PHI at CAR
 
-
 
48
 
Josh Langfeld*
 
3/30/02 OTT vs. TB
 
-
 
49
 
Gaetan Royer*
 
4/1/02 TB vs. NYR
 
-
 
50
 
Jason Spezza*
 
10/24/02 OTT at BOS
 
-
51
 
Sean Avery
 
10/29/02 DET vs. SJ
 
-
 
52
 
Jason Doig
 
12/3/02 WSH at PIT
 
-
 
53
 
Jason Williams
 
12/5/02 DET at PHX
 
-
 
54
 
Patrick Boileau
 
12/19/02 DET vs. DAL
 
-
 
55
 
Stacy Roest
 
2/20/03 DET vs. EDM
 
-
 
56
 
Wade Brookbank*
 
10/9/03 NSH vs. ANA
 
-
 
57
 
Julien Vauclair*
 
10/25/03 OTT at MTL
 
-
 
58
 
Jiri Hudler
 
10/29/03 DET vs. STL
 
-
 
59
 
Curtis Joseph (cs)
 
10/30/03 DET at NSH
 
-
 
60
 
Darryl Bootland*
 
11/8/03 DET vs. NSH
 
-
 
61
 
Mark Mowers
 
11/19/03 DET vs. CBJ
 
-
 
62
 
Nathan Robinson*
 
11/28/03 DET vs. NYI
 
-
 
63
 
Blake Sloan
 
12/4/03 DAL at LA
 
-
 
64
 
Niklas Kronwall*
 
12/10/03 DET at BUF
 
-
65
 
Ryan Barnes*
 
12/15/03 DET vs. FLA
 
-
 
66
 
Chris Kelly*
 
2/5/04 OTT vs. TOR
 
-
 
67
 
Marc Lamothe
 
2/23/04 DET at EDM
 
-
 
68
 
Anders Myrvold
 
2/26/04 DET at CGY
 
-
 
69
 
Mathieu Chouinard*
 
2/29/04 LA at ANA
 
-
 
70
 
Brett Lebda*
 
10/5/05 DET vs. STL
 
-
 
71
 
Mark Eaton
 
10/5/05 NSH vs. SJ
 
-
 
72
 
Chris Osgood (cs)
 
10/29/05 DET at CHI
 
-
 
73
 
Kyle Quincey*
 
11/25/05 DET at ANA
 
-
 
74
 
Jimmy Howard*
 
11/28/05 DET at LA
 
-
75
 
Valtteri Filppula*
 
12/15/05 DET at FLA
 
-
76
 
Rob Collins*
 
12/17/05 NYI vs. COL
 
-
 
77
 
Manny Legace (cs)
 
1/5/06 DET vs. STL
 
-
 
78
 
David Gove*
 
1/31/06 CAR at MTL
 
-
 
79
 
Tomas Kopecky*
 
2/28/06 DET at SJ
 
-
 
80
 
Alexandre Giroux*
 
3/25/06 NYR at TB
 
-
 
81
 
Joey MacDonald*
 
10/19/06 DET at SJ
 
-
 
82
 
Derek Meech*
 
12/7/06 DET vs. STL
 
-
 
83
 
Matt Ellis*
 
12/18/06 DET at CBJ
 
-
 
84
 
Matt Hussey
 
1/26/07 DET at STL
 
-
 
85
 
Sheldon Brookbank*
 
2/6/07 NSH at PIT
 
-
 
86
 
Danny Syvret
 
2/27/07 EDM vs. PHX
 
-
 
87
 
Mark Hartigan
 
11/29/07 DET vs. TB
 
-
 
88
 
Drew MacIntyre*
 
12/13/07 VAN at SJ
 
-
 
89
 
Peter Vandermeer*
 
2/10/08 PHX vs. NSH
 
-
 
90
 
Jonathan Ericsson*
 
2/22/08 DET at CGY
 
-
91
 
Garrett Stafford*
 
2/23/08 DET at VAN
 
-
 
92
 
Darren Helm*
 
3/13/08 DET vs. DAL
 
-
93
 
Mattias Ritola*
 
3/15/08 DET vs. NSH
 
-
 
94
 
Clay Wilson*
 
3/25/08 CBJ at NSH
 
-
 
95
 
Darren McCarty
 
3/28/08 DET vs. STL
 
-
 
96
 
Krys Kolanos
 
11/4/08 MIN at SJ
 
-
 
97
 
Landon Wilson
 
11/22/08 DAL vs. ANA
 
-
 
98
 
Bryan Helmer
 
11/28/08 WSH vs. MTL
 
-
 
99
 
Chris Chelios (cs)
 
12/13/08 DET at PHX
 
-
 
100
 
Aaron Downey
 
1/29/09 DET vs. DAL
 
-
 
101
 
Justin Abdelkader
 
1/31/09 DET at WSH
 
-
102
 
Ville Leino*
 
1/31/09 DET at WSH
 
-
 
103
 
Aaron Gagnon*
 
10/16/09 DAL vs. BOS
 
-
 
104
 
Scott Parse*
 
10/24/09 LA at PHX
 
-
 
105
 
Doug Janik
 
11/3/09 DET vs. BOS
 
-
 
106
 
Ryan Keller*
 
11/25/09 OTT at NJ
 
-
 
107
 
Jakub Kindl*
 
12/3/09 DET vs. EDM
 
-
 
108
 
Kris Newbury
 
12/14/09 DET vs. PHX
 
-
 
109
 
Darren Haydar
 
2/10/10 COL vs. ATL
 
-
 
110
 
Andreas Lilja (cs)
 
3/1/10 DET at COL
 
-
 
111
 
Jeremy Williams
 
10/24/10 NYR vs. NJ
 
-
 
112
 
Jan Mursak*
 
12/27/10 DET at COL
 
-
 
113
 
Chris Mueller*
 
12/28/10 NSH vs. DAL
 
-
 
114
 
Tomas Tatar*
 
12/31/10 DET vs. NYI
 
Seattle
115
 
Cory Emmerton*
 
1/22/11 DET vs. CHI
 
-
 
116
 
Patrick Rissmiller
 
2/23/11 ATL at BUF
 
-
 
117
 
Tom McCollum*
 
3/30/11 DET vs. STL
 
-
 
118
 
Gustav Nyquist*
 
11/1/11 DET vs. MIN
 
Nashville
119
 
Fabian Brunnstrom
 
11/5/11 DET vs. ANA
 
-
 
120
 
Brendan Smith*
 
11/17/11 DET at SJ
 
New Jersey
121
 
Mark Cullen
 
11/29/11 FLA at CAR
 
-
 
122
 
Chris Conner
 
12/2/11 DET at BUF
 
-
 
123
 
Joakim Andersson*
 
12/27/11 DET vs. STL
 
-
 
124
 
Ty Conklin
 
3/21/12 DET at NYR
 
-
 
125
 
Riley Sheahan*
 
4/7/12 DET vs. CHI
 
-
126
 
Brian Lashoff*
 
1/21/13 DET at CBJ
 
-
127
 
Mike Knuble
 
1/26/13 PHI at FLA
 
-
 
128
 
Jamie Tardif*
 
2/2/13 BOS at TOR
 
-
 
129
 
Petr Mrazek*
 
2/7/13 DET at STL
 
Chicago
130
 
Jonas Gustavsson (cs)
 
2/19/13 DET at NSH
 
-
 
131
 
Carlo Colaiacovo (cs)
 
4/1/13 DET vs. COL
 
-
 
132
 
Danny DeKeyser
 
10/2/13 DET vs. BUF
 
-
 
133
 
Luke Glendening*
 
10/12/13 DET vs. PHI
 
Tampa Bay
 
134
 
Xavier Ouellet*
 
10/21/13 DET vs. SJ
 
-
135
 
Adam Almquist*
 
11/4/13 DET at WPG
 
-
 
136
 
Chad Billins*
 
11/5/13 CGY at MIN
 
-
 
137
 
Patrick Eaves
 
12/14/13 DET vs. PIT
 
-
138
 
Tomas Jurco*
 
12/15/13 DET vs. TB
 
-
139
 
Jordin Tootoo
 
12/19/13 DET vs. CGY
 
-
 
140
 
Alexey Marchenko*
 
1/4/14 DET at DAL
 
-
 
141
 
Teemu Pulkkinen*
 
3/14/14 DET vs. EDM
 
-
 
142
 
Landon Ferraro*
 
3/18/14 DET vs. TOR
 
-
 
143
 
Calle Jarnkrok*
 
3/21/14 NSH at CGY
 
Toronto
144
 
Mitch Callahan*
 
3/25/14 DET at CBJ
 
-
 
145
 
Ryan Sproul*
 
4/13/14 DET at STL
 
-
 
146
 
Andrej Nestrasil*
 
10/9/14 DET vs. BOS
 
-
 
147
 
Stephen Weiss (cs)
 
11/24/14 DET vs. OTT
 
-
 
148
 
Mattias Janmark*
 
10/8/15 DAL vs. PIT
 
Edmonton
149
 
Dylan Larkin*
 
10/9/15 DET vs. TOR
 
Detroit
 
150
 
Kevin Porter
 
10/10/15 PIT at ARI
 
-
 
151
 
Andreas Athanasiou*
 
11/8/15 DET vs. DAL
 
Chicago
152
 
Tomas Nosek*
 
12/26/15 DET at NSH
 
New Jersey
 
153
 
Eric Tangradi
 
1/25/16 DET at NYI
 
-
154
 
Anthony Mantha*
 
3/15/16 DET at PHI
 
Vegas
 
155
 
Alan Quine*
 
4/9/16 NYI vs. PHI
 
-
156
 
Martin Frk*
 
10/18/16 CAR at EDM
 
-
157
 
Tyler Bertuzzi*
 
11/8/16 DET at PHI
 
Toronto
158
 
Jared Coreau*
 
12/3/16 DET at PIT
 
-
 
159
 
Nick Jensen*
 
12/20/16 DET at TB
 
Washington
 
160
 
Drew Miller
 
2/28/17 DET at VAN
 
-
 
161
 
Robbie Russo*
 
3/7/17 DET at TOR
 
-
 
162
 
Dan Renouf*
 
3/27/17 DET at CAR
 
-
163
 
Ben Street
 
3/28/17 DET at CAR
 
-
164
 
Evgeny Svechnikov*
 
4/3/17 DET vs. OTT
 
-
165
 
Matt Lorito*
 
4/8/17 DET vs. MTL
 
-
 
166
 
Kyle Criscuolo*
 
11/17/17 BUF at DET
 
-
167
 
Dominic Turgeon*
 
1/14/18 DET at CHI
 
-
168
 
Joe Hicketts*
 
1/22/18 DET at NJ
 
-
169
 
Dennis Cholowski*
 
10/4/18 DET vs. CBJ
 
-
170
 
Libor Sulak*
 
10/4/18 DET vs. CBJ
 
-
 
171
 
Filip Hronek*
 
10/4/18 DET vs. CBJ
 
Vancouver
 
172
 
Wade Megan
 
11/1/18 DET vs. NJ
 
-
173
 
Christoffer Ehn
 
11/6/18 DET vs. VAN
 
-
 
174
 
Eddie Pasquale*
 
12/4/18 TB at DET
 
-
175
 
Michael Rasmussen (cs)
 
2/7/19 DET vs. VGK
 
Detroit
176
 
Filip Zadina*
 
2/24/19 DET vs. SJ
 
San Jose
177
 
Matt Puempel
 
3/23/19 DET at VGK
 
-
178
 
Dylan McIlrath
 
3/25/19 DET at SJ
 
Washington
179
 
Jake Chelios*
 
3/29/19 DET vs. NJ
 
-
180
 
Givani Smith*
 
10/25/19 DET vs. BUF
 
San Jose
181
 
Calvin Pickard
 
11/29/19 DET at PHI
 
Edmonton
182
 
Madison Bowey
 
12/14/19 DET at MTL
 
-
183
 
Taro Hirose2/6/20 DET at BUF
 
-
184
 
Gustav Lindstrom*
 
2/6/20 DET at BUF
 
Montreal
185
 
Joe Veleno*
 
4/27/21 DET at CBJ
 
Detroit
186
 
Mathias Brome
 
5/7/21 DET at CBJ
 
-
187
 
Moritz Seider*
 
10/14/21 DET vs. TB
 
Detroit
 
188
 
Riley Barber
 
12/18/21 DET vs. NJ
 
-
189
 
Gemel Smith (cs)
 
2/2/22 DET vs. LA
 
-
190
 
Luke Witkowski
 
3/12/22 DET at CGY
 
-
191
 
Chase Pearson*
 
3/24/22 DET at NYI
 
-
192
 
Harri Sateri
 
4/7/22 ARI vs. VAN
 
-
193
 
Turner Elson
 
4/26/22 DET at TOR
 
-
194
 
Matt Luff
 
10/27/22 DET at BOS
 
-
195
 
Austin Czarnik
 
11/6/22 DET at NYR
 
Detroit
196
 
Jonatan Berggren*
 
11/10/22 DET vs. NYR
 
Detroit
197
 
Magnus Hellberg (cs)
 
12/14/22 DET at MIN
 
Pittsburgh
198
 
Elmer Soderblom
 
12/14/22 DET at MIN
 
-
199
 
Jakub Vrana
 
2/21/23 DET at WSH
 
St. Louis
200
 
Adam Erne
 
3/2/23 DET vs. SEA
 
Edmonton
201
 
Alex Chiasson
 
3/4/23 DET at NYI
 
-
202
 
Simon Edvinsson*
 
3/18/23 DET vs. COL
 
Detroit
203
 
Alex Nedeljkovic
 
3/23/23 DET vs. STL
 
Pittsburgh
 
204Zach Aston-Reese12/11/23 DET at DALDetroit
205Michael Hutchinson12/23/23 DET at NJDetroit
206Ville Husso (cs)2/13/24 DET at EDMDetroit
207Albert Johansson*10/12/24 DET vs. NSH-
Bold = Played in the NHL during the 2023-24 season
 
Italics = Had named engraved on the Stanley Cup after playing for Grand Rapids
* = Made NHL debut after playing for the Griffins
(cs) = Joined Griffins on conditioning stint from NHL club