With the Wings’ defense in flux and Joe Hicketts not having done much to calm the tide of goals against in his brief stint with the Wings so far this season, the team has reassigned the former free agent signing back to Grand Rapids. This move temporarily leaves the team with an extra roster spot which they don’t need to immediately fill in order to have a full complement of healthy scratches.
This will also get Hicketts back with the Griffins in time for their next game action tomorrow.
More from the Griffins:
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Detroit Red Wings on Thursday assigned defenseman Joe Hicketts to the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Hicketts, 23, made his NHL season debut with Detroit on Oct. 29 against Edmonton and has skated in four games, tallying one assist and averaging 18:01 of ice time. A fourth-year pro, Hicketts has played in eight games with the Griffins this season and leads all team defensemen in scoring (0-7—7) while tying for 14th among AHL blueliners in points and ninth in assists.
Since becoming the 168th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL when he made his debut on Jan. 22, 2018, Hicketts has appeared in 20 games for the Red Wings and picked up four assists and two penalty minutes.
A 5-foot-8, 180-pound defenseman, Hicketts has suited up in 212 regular season games with the Griffins since 2016-17, posting 80 points (13-67—80), a plus-five rating and 143 PIM. He helped Grand Rapids claim the 2017 Calder Cup as a rookie and in total has made 29 Calder Cup Playoff appearances, showing 11 points (1-10—11), a plus-seven rating and 18 PIM.
A native of Kamloops, British Columbia, Hicketts represented Canada on two occasions at the World Junior Championship, winning gold in 2015 and serving as an alternate captain in 2016.
The Griffins (5-5-1-1) will host the Toronto Marlies for the first time since the 2015-16 season tomorrow at 7 p.m.
