Red Wings sign former AHL scoring champ

The Detroit Red Wings, NHL affiliate of the Grand Rapids Griffins, on Wednesday announced the signing of center Donald MacLean to a one-year contract.

MacLean, 28, has established himself as one of the AHL’s elite players over the last six seasons. He won the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the league’s top scorer in 2001-02 as a member of the St. John’s Maple Leafs, notching 87 points (33g, 54a). MacLean’s 54 assists and 14 power-play goals each tied for second in the AHL that season, during which he was chosen as a starter for the 2002 AHL All-Star Classic.

In 371 career AHL games with Syracuse, St. John’s, Lowell, Springfield and Fredericton, MacLean has scored 134 goals and added 186 assists for 320 points. After missing the majority of the 2002-03 season due to neck surgery, he rebounded in 2003-04 to lead Syracuse in scoring and tie for eighth in the league with 69 points.

A veteran of 29 NHL contests with Columbus, Toronto and Los Angeles, MacLean spent the 2004-05 campaign with Blues Espoo of the Finnish Elite League, pacing the team with 22 goals while ranking second with 21 assists and 43 points.

MacLean, Los Angeles’s second-round choice (33rd overall) in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, skated for Grand Rapids during the 1998-99 season. He contributed 19 points (6g, 13a) in 28 outings with the Griffins.