Detroit Red Wings Recall Matt Puempel
By Tyler Samson
With the Detroit Red Wings rotating the lineup around for injury and to avoid it, they recalled 26-year-old Matt Puempel from the Grand Rapids Griffins.
The Detroit Red Wings have announced they’ve recalled Matt Puempel, the second leading goal scorer for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL, from Grand Rapids on Friday. The 26-year-old has found a tremendous amount of offensive success in 59 games played with the Griffins this season.
In the 59 games Puempel played this season with the Griffins, he scored 24 goals and tallied 26 assists. The former 24th overall pick by the Ottawa Senators in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft was acquired by the Red Wings in the 2017-18 season when they traded Ryan Sproul to acquire Puempel from the New York Rangers.
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During the 2017-18 season with the Griffins, Puempel was one of only two Griffins to make the All-StarStar Team, joining teammate Matt Lorito. Following that season, he signed a two year extension with the Red Wings, which will make him a free agent at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season.
This will be Puempel’s first time in the NHL with Detroit. However, he has played in the NHL before. At the NHL level, Puempel has played 79 NHL games (52 games with Ottawa and 27 with the Rangers). In total, he has accumulated 10 goals, five assists, and 28 penalty minutes.
With the Red Wings already eliminated from qualifying for the 2018-19 season, they have been shutting down a lot of the stars and higher paid players and replacing them with players like Matt Puempel.
Although the Wings season is practically over, it should still be worthwhile to see how some of the AHL talent performs at the NHL level. The 6’1” and 205-pound Puempel has had NHL experience in his career and is looking to showcase himself at the NHL level to hopefully get some more opportunities next year.
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With less than 10 games left in the season, the Red Wings have to look forward and continue to grow. By giving players like Matt Puempel some experience in the NHL will be great for their development into becoming NHL starters.