Detroit fans have been wondering what forward was going to be recalled from Grand Rapids with Frans Nielsen, Andreas Athanasiou, and Thomas Vanek all out with injuries for various lengths of time.
The answer is 28 year old Wade Megan.
The left shooting Center has two goals and two assists in eight games after scoring 11 goals and 22 assists in 63 games last season for the Chicago Wolves.
The move is a bit surprising considering Christoffer Ehn started the season with the team and didn’t look out of place, although he was sheltered in his time with Detroit.
The other roster move doesn’t come as a surprise after Jeff Blashill went with Luke Witkowski last night. Joe Hicketts returns to Grand Rapids, which will help bolster the Griffins defensive corps.
Here is the press release from the organization:
DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today recalled center Wade Megan from the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins and assigned defenseman Joe Hicketts to the Griffins.
Megan, 28, has tallied two goals and two assists in his first eight games with the Griffins after signing with the Red Wings on July 1, 2018. Megan spent the last two seasons with the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves, where he totaled 99 points (44-55-99) and a plus-34 rating in 136 games, including his first season in Chicago in which he won the Willie Marshall Award for leading the league in goals, tallying 66 points (33-33-66) in 73 games en route to being named to the AHL First All-Star Team. Megan skated in four NHL games for the St. Louis Blues over two seasons (2016-18), scoring a goal in his NHL debut on Dec. 22, 2016 at Tampa Bay. Since the 2012-13 season, the Canton, N.Y., native has skated in a total of 334 AHL games with the San Antonio Rampage, Portland Pirates, Wolves and Griffins, recording 157 points (80-77-157), a plus-25 rating and 230 penalty minutes.
Originally drafted by the Florida Panthers in the fifth round (138th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Megan spent four seasons at Boston University in the NCAA from 2009-13 and picked up 83 points (49-34-83) and 161 penalty minutes in 151 games, serving as captain of the Terriers as a senior in 2012-13. The 6-foot-1, 194-pound forward also spent parts of two seasons in the ECHL, racking up 27 points (17-10-27) in 21 regular-season games and 13 points (10-3-13) in 22 postseason games with the Cincinnati Cyclones from 2013-15.
Hicketts, 22, has skated in eight games for the Red Wings this season, averaging 17:06 of ice time per game and ranking second among team defensemen with 15 hits. The third-year pro made his NHL debut during the 2017-18 season, recording three assists and a plus-five rating in five games for Detroit. Hicketts skated in 67 games for Grand Rapids last year, totaling 12 points (3-9-12) and 32 penalty minutes. In his rookie season with the Griffins, the 5-foot-8, 180-pound blueliner led the team’s defensemen with 34 points (7-27-34) in 73 games, ranking seventh among first-year AHL defensemen. The Kamloops, British Columbia, native also led Griffins defensemen in postseason scoring after tallying eight points (1-7-8) in 19 games en route to helping the team win its second AHL championship in five seasons. In 140 career AHL games, he has recorded 46 points (10-36-46), 72 penalty minutes and a plus-five rating.
Originally signed by the Red Wings as an undrafted free agent in September 2014, Hicketts spent four seasons with the Western Hockey League’s Victoria Royals from 2012-16. He served as the team’s captain the last two years and posted back-to-back 60-point seasons for the Royals. Hicketts totaled 173 points (32-141-173), 149 penalty minutes and a plus-69 rating in 224 games with the Royals and was a WHL West Second-Team All-Star in 2015 and First-Team All-Star in 2016. Internationally, Hicketts represented Canada twice at the IIHF World Junior Championship, winning gold in 2015 and serving as an alternate captain for the team in 2016 while recording six points (1-5-6) in 12 games during the two tournaments. He also earned medals at three additional tournaments for his country, winning gold at the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, picking up a silver at the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and earning bronze at the 2014 World Under-18 Championship.
