The Grand Rapids Griffins are off and rolling again, and this start has plenty of the same fingerprints that made last season’s opening months so overpowering. Through eight games, they’ve won six, piled up a 30-19 edge in goals, and leaned on a roster that has been pulling in the same direction from top to bottom.
At the center of it all is Michal Postava, who has opened the season looking every bit like a goaltender who can carry a load. His adjustment from newcomer to the “veteran” mentor for Trey Augustine has come smoothly, and that matters because the Griffins did not know for certain he’d be able to duplicate last season’s work as their top option in net. The 24-year-old has already spent time on a call-up with the Red Wings after Daniil Tarasov “tweaking” something, then made his NHL debut in the third period against the Vancouver Canucks after taking over for John Gibson when “something got in [Gibson’s] eye”, according to Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan.
A few nights later, Postava got his first NHL start and helped Detroit beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in a shootout. Two appearances do not tell the whole story, but they were enough to put him on the radar for anyone who had not already been tracking his place in the organization. With the Red Wings already featuring so much young talent, his early-season run raises an interesting question about what happens down the line with Gibson or Tarasov.
The Griffins’ overall style has been just as noticeable as Postava’s play. They came into the season wanting to play a hard-nosed game, and that has shown up in the details: aggressive forechecking, work along the boards, a willingness to give and take contact, and a steady effort to create chaos around the crease.
It’s not coming from one or two guys, either. Cameron Butler and Kienan Draper have dropped the gloves, Wilmer Skoog and Sheldon Dries have thrown big hits, and Carter Bear and Dominik Shine have kept driving into the scoring areas and absorbing the punishment that comes with it.
Even with the strong start, head coach Dan Watson has not been shy about where his team still needs work. After the 5-2 win over the Cleveland Monsters on October 24, he said, “We got a lot of things to still clean up,” Watson said following the team’s 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Monsters on October 24.
“Details and habits within our structure are still not good enough…. We want to build consistency…and right now our game is not consistent enough, so we’ll go to work this week.”
The Griffins followed that up by responding after a shootout loss and beating Cleveland 5-2 on Saturday night to finish another successful five-game stretch. Watson’s group has shown enough in the first 10 games to suggest it could be built for the postseason style of play long before April arrives.
There are also a few players who deserve more attention than they usually get. Ondrej Becher has been one of them.
The 2024 third-round pick has seven points in the first 10 games, a career-high scoring pace, and his confidence shows every time he gets the puck. Now in his third season in Grand Rapids, the Czechian forward gives the Griffins depth down the middle alongside Dries, Draper and Théo Rochette.
William Lagesson has been just as important in his own way. He has four goals and seven points through the first 10 games, but his value goes well beyond the scoresheet.
He’s been steady in the defensive zone, using his stick to break up plays, battling on the boards and getting involved after the whistle when needed. He has been involved in just about everything the Griffins are trying to do, which fits for a player wearing an ‘A’ as one of the team’s alternate captains.
The Griffins head home this week to face the Texas Stars on Nov. 4, and they do so sitting first in the Central Division and first in the Western Conference at 8-1-2. That record gives them 18 points and a two-point lead over the second-place Manitoba Moose. Their penalty kill leads the AHL at 93.5 percent, while their power play is clicking at 25 percent.
Jesse Kiiskinen leads the team in goals with six and points with 11. Dries has eight points in only four games, which leads the club in points per game.
Jacob Bryson leads the defensemen with one goal and eight points. Augustine and Postava each have five starts, with Augustine at 2-1-2 and a .901 save percentage, and Postava at 5-0-0 with a .955 save percentage.
The Griffins may not be matching last season’s blistering opening pace, but the results are still strong enough to leave one obvious question hanging over everything they’ve done so far: how high can this team climb once the game tightens up even more?
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