Thanks to the Detroit Red Wings, the best team in the AHL just got significantly better.

The Grand Rapids Griffins lead the AHL with an astonishing 28-1-1-1 slate. You might suggest that they don’t need any help.

The Red Wings would disagree.

In successive days, Detroit has assigned 2023 first-round pick Nate Danielson and 2021 second-round pick Shai Buium to the Griffins, the club’s top farm team.

UPDATE: The #RedWings have activated Shai Buium from injured non-roster and assigned him to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. pic.twitter.com/CI5w4gqgrA

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 7, 2026

Buium, 22, has missed the entire season to date with an upper-body injury. Last season, the rookie pro campaign for the defenseman saw Buium total 25 points (2-23-25), and a plus-two rating in 67 regular-season games with the Griffins. He was second among the team’s rearguards in assists and points, and tied for sixth among rookie AHL defenders with two power-play goals.

Red Wings coach Todd McLellan described Buium as an interesting player during the NHL preseason.

“He’s got great anticipation skills,” McLellan said. “He makes heady plays. He uses his length.

“Sometimes you just need to know who you are. Is he gonna win a race against Connor McDavid? Probably not, but he knows who he is, and he uses what he has fairly well.”

Danielson Struggled With Red Wings

Finding consistency at the NHL level was proving to be a challenge for Danielson after his November 8 recall from GR. He accounted for 2-5-7 numbers and a minus-seven rating in 28 games.

“When Danny was in training camp, he had a hell of a camp, and we talked about him likely starting with our team coming out of it,” McLellan said. “The (late camp) injury set him back, so he went down (to Grand Rapids). He played – I don’t know what he was, six, seven games maybe – and then up he came.

Nate Dog ‼️👊@Adventure_CU | #GoGRG pic.twitter.com/NXJaXElHX2

— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) January 7, 2026

“When we brought him up, we hoped that things would go real well and that would be fine, but we weren’t sure if he was ready or not. And we’ve given him a good run here where he’s had some really good nights. And then there’s other nights where they’ve just been okay, which is typical of a young player.

“But we want him to continue the offensive trajectory that we think is in him. And we couldn’t put him in spots right now on our team where he could really push for that.”

Danielson produced five points in four games with the Griffins before his recall. Last season, the ninth player chosen in the 2023 NHL entry draft accounted for 39 points (12-27-39) and a plus-four rating in 71 games.

He’ll play a major role for the Griffins. The Red Wings are hopeful that the opportunity to be a significant player will reignite Danielson’s offensive game.

“With his confidence in those situations wavering, we’ve got to get him back to where he can be comfortable and confident,” McLellan said. “He’ll play a lot of minutes in Grand Rapids. We want him to work on the intensity of the offense part, so those moments where you really gotta win a two-second play, whether that’s mentally done, physically done, skill done, win those two-second plays so that offense comes out of it.

“A lot of it is the physical part of it, and he’ll get that down there.”