Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
After a disappointing postseason, the Grand Rapids Griffins are back to their old ways.
Last night’s 4-2 win over Milwaukee was their fourth in a row, and their 10-1-1-1 mark has the Griffins atop the AHL heading into a visit to Rockford tonight.
It’s a familiar feeling for Grand Rapids, which lost just once in regulation over its first 32 games in 2025-26. Their October record over the last three seasons is 19-2-2-1.
Leading the way has been captain Dominik Shine, coming off a career-high 21-goal season. Shine’s four-goal night – a franchise first – propelled the Griffins to a 6-2 win against Texas on Wednesday, and he added his 10th goal of the season in Friday’s victory.
Shine, in the 10th season of a pro career spent entirely in Grand Rapids, has long been a reliable two-way forward in Grand Rapids, but he has broken out offensively in the second half of his career. His 21 goals last year came in just 40 games, and he put up a personal best 46 points back in 2024-25. He currently sits tied atop the AHL scoring leaderboard with Toronto’s Brendan Brisson and Rochester’s Matthew Peca.
With 240 points, Shine has become the leading scorer in the franchise’s AHL history.
“To be a part of this organization for this long, and to even be in that conversation with some of the guys,” Shine said after Wednesday’s win. “There are so many great players who have played here. I just feel really thankful.”
Grand Rapids’ torrid pace last season leveled off, and they eventually finished second to Providence in the overall league standings. Even so, their 51-16-4-1 mark gave them a franchise-record .743 points percentage. Their 27-7-1-1 performance on the road also set a new franchise best.
But a loss to Chicago in the division finals left the Griffins short of their goal, and a barrage of offseason changes followed.
In came a host of new faces for returning head coach Dan Watson to integrate. There’s Trey Augustine, named the Big Ten top goaltender the past two seasons at Michigan State; he’s just 21 years old, a Hobey Baker Award finalist last season, and a 2023 second-rounder. Forward Carter Bear, who turned 20 on Wednesday, is the 13th overall pick from the 2025 NHL Draft. Dylan James, another forward, comes as a 2022 second-round pick who put in four productive seasons at the University of North Dakota. Two more young forwards, Noah Dower Nilsson and Jesse Kiiskinen, came over with high-level European experience. New on the back end are Jacob Bryson and his 304 NHL games along with Ronnie Attard. New signee Wilmer Skoog had 18 goals in 2025-26 with the Charlotte Checkers. Free agents Cameron Butler and Chase Stillman provide additional help up front.
Of course, no AHL team operates free from what is happening with its NHL parent club. Anything that the NHL team goes through inevitably has some effect, good or bad, on the AHL affiliate.
And right now it’s hardly a secret that the Detroit Red Wings are navigating their own challenges.
Executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman stepped down as general manager July 15. Someone who took an up-close interest in Grand Rapids since coming back to the organization in 2019, Yzerman shifted to a senior advisor role. That decision left a massive gap in the front office, of course. Shawn Horcoff, general manager in Grand Rapids since February 2022, stepped in for Yzerman as interim executive vice president and general manager in Detroit on Sept. 15. Dylan Larkin lost his Red Wings captaincy, and the team has since suspended him as the sides attempt to find a trade.
With so much change for the organization since last May, the last thing that the Red Wings need is any disruption for their development plans. And in Grand Rapids on a day-to-day basis, Watson and his Griffins need a steady captain like Shine. After all, last season provided the difficult lesson that even the most dominant of seasons will inevitably bring struggles as the games, months, injuries, and recalls accumulate. Sometimes even the most impressive of Calder Cup contenders can see their hopes undone in the postseason, after all.
They have someone who can find the net.
“These are opportunities for him,” Watson said of his captain, “and he sees the opportunity…and that’s what I love about him. He comes to work, he knows his role, he does it, he does it well. He’s captain for a reason, and he’s being rewarded for the work that he puts in.”
Shine got his first NHL contract on Jan. 27, 2025, nearly eight years after he turned pro. He went on to play 18 games with Detroit last season, picked up his first three NHL goals, and got a two-year contract extension.
In Shine, the organization has someone who can direct its prospects through the ups, downs and doubts of the season. Detroit has long placed a premium on having top veterans in Grand Rapids to guide their prospects. Brian Lashoff, now an assistant to Watson, became the face of the Griffins for years. Jeff Hoggan and Nathan Paetsch each captained the Griffins to Calder Cup titles. Those players, and many more, all earned respect throughout the organization and around the AHL for their know-how.
So while Shine has proven more than capable of stepping into the Detroit lineup when needed, some of his most important responsibilities are in Grand Rapids. It’s one fewer item for Horcoff, the Detroit front office, and Watson to worry about.
“I think it’s every young guy’s dream to continue to get to the NHL,” Watson said. “Maybe later in his career, but he still made it there. That’s just the perseverance, the work ethic, the care and passion you have for an organization, for a team. I’m sure there are multiple places he could have gone in the past, but he hasn’t.
“He’s stuck it out and he’s getting rewarded for it. And I think it just shows the young guys. We’re blessed to have him here.”
On the American Hockey League beat for more than two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2015-16.
