The Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings, lost their head coach Todd Nelson to the Dallas Stars recently, but will have a familiar face taking over for him next season. Ben Simon, who worked as an assistant for the team the last three years has officially been named head coach.
The Griffins won a Calder Cup under Nelson in 2017, but failed to get past the Manitoba Moose this time around. After he joined Jim Montgomery’s new staff in Dallas, it wasn’t clear if the team would bring in a new face or promote from within. That answer is clear now, and Simon will get his first chance as a head coach in the AHL, after previously holding the role in the ECHL.
Simon, once an AHL journeyman himself, played 81 games in his NHL career and recorded just four points. He’ll try to impart some of his knowledge on what has been a very good minor league team of late, despite the lack of real high-end prospects. Ben Street, Eric Tangradi and Matt Lorito, three experienced professionals led the way this year, but are all unrestricted free agents this summer. Though it doesn’t seem like they’ll get a lot of opportunity elsewhere in the NHL, there’s no guarantee they’ll be back in Grand Rapids.
The Griffins will likely get Dennis Cholowski though, one of Detroit’s top prospects and a defenseman with extremely high potential. If he doesn’t crack the Red Wings lineup out of camp, Simon will be the one to mold Cholowski through his first full professional season.