Wojciech Stachowiak’s path away from the Detroit Red Wings organization finally has a destination. After waiting for a chance to remain in Detroit, then looking for another NHL opportunity that never came, the former Grand Rapids Griffins forward has agreed to terms with Örebro in Sweden’s SHL.
Reports from the Swedish site Expressen say Stachowiak still has to clear a medical before the signing becomes official. But the move gives him the hockey home he’d been searching for after North American options dried up.
The expectation had been that he would head back to Ingolstadt in Germany’s DHL if nothing materialized in North America. Örebro’s opening came together suddenly when Finnish forward Teemu Turunen said he would need to stay in Finland for family reasons, creating a spot for Stachowiak.
Stachowiak is 27, shoots left, and can play both wings. He’s also a German international, and earlier this year he skated with Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider for Germany at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games.
Detroit picked up Stachowiak in a late-season trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning, then sent him to the Griffins for the rest of the year. He made the most of that stretch, posting four goals and 15 points in 10 games. At 6-foot-1 and 194 pounds, he fit well on a third line with Eduards Tralmaks and Jakub Rychlovsky, though none of those three will be back in Grand Rapids this season.
Stachowiak had made it clear earlier this summer that he was frustrated by how things played out with the Red Wings. He said the club never made him feel like a real priority for an NHL deal.
“We negotiated and talked a lot,” Stachowiak told the German website Eishockey News. “In the end, it didn’t sound like a priority for them to bring me into the NHL.”
With no qualifying offer coming his way, he became an unrestricted free agent.
“The most important thing for me now is that I find a team where I really have a chance to make my NHL debut,” Stachowiak said. “I’m definitely optimistic. I’m someone who always looks forward.”
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