Red Wings’ Dominik Shine nominated for NHL’s Bill Masterton Trophy

Before Dominik Shine got his first NHL call-up at age 31 last season, and long before he scored his first career NHL goal this spring at 32, the longtime AHL veteran had to reckon with the idea the call might not be coming.

Shine, who grew up a Detroit Red Wings fan in nearby Pinckney, Michigan, had been raised on the late 1990s and early 2000s Red Wings, going to championship parades and dreaming of one day playing in the NHL. And for eight American Hockey league seasons, he was right on the doorstep, after signing with Detroit’s AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, out of college. But with each passing year, the dream that was just one step away started to feel out of reach. Countless prospects had come through Grand Rapids and moved on to Detroit, and Shine remained.

As he approached AHL veteran status — and the roster limitations that come with it — Shine had to seriously ponder whether to keep chasing that dream. His wife, Taylor, works for the medical device company Stryker, and Shine considered looking into a career like hers, getting a head start on life after hockey.

Instead, he stuck with the sport he had loved since childhood. He finally broke through to the NHL. And Wednesday, after all that hard work waiting for an opportunity he didn’t know would come, Shine was nominated for the Bill Masterton Trophy, which annually honors the NHL player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.

“I kind of looked in the mirror and talked with my wife, and she was like, ‘Just try it again, give it one more year. See where you’re at, you never know,’” Shine recalled this week. “And then, to be here, I’ve said it before but it’s unbelievable.”

Shine was first called up to Detroit for a Jan. 27, 2025 game against the Los Angeles Kings, the first of nine he would play that season. And this year, he finally scored his first career NHL goal against the New Jersey Devils on March 8 — becoming, at 32 years and 324 days, the fifth-oldest Red Wings player in franchise history to score his first career goal, and the second oldest outside of the team’s inaugural season as the Detroit Cougars in 1926-27. Only Václav Nedomanský in 1977-78 (at 33 years, 269 days) had been older since that first season.

That kind of distinction embodies the qualities of the Masterton Award. Shine was never a top prospect, after going undrafted and signing as a college free agent, but he never quit, even amid circumstances that might have made doing so the most logical choice.

When the AHL returned after shutting down during the COVID-19 pandemic, players were set to make just 40 percent of their salary. For Shine, that meant 40 percent of his estimated $60,000 salary at the time.

That was around the same time Shine was approaching the “veteran” threshold for games played. The AHL places restrictions on how many veterans a team can dress, with a maximum of five who have played more than 320 professional games on a given night, plus one who has played more than 260 but fewer than 320. That meant Shine’s opportunities could soon become limited, as all teams have to be judicious with those limited spots.

“I thought maybe I would just get to there, and if I had the chance to play after that, I would,” Shine said. “I stuck it out that year, and then the full COVID season actually really helped me, because to get players to the team they had to quarantine for two weeks. If you were (in) close contact, you were out for two weeks. So there were times where we were playing games with like 15 players. I was playing D, I was playing forward — there (were) shifts where I was going back and forth from D and forward. So I think it really gave me a little more opportunity to play, and I think that’s where I took off from there.”

In that 2021-22 season, Shine doubled his career high with 32 points while moving into that “veteran exempt” category, finishing the season with 288 pro games. The next year, he moved into the full veteran category, turning 30 at year’s end.

For many players, the end of the 20s signifies the end of a player’s prime, or at least the tail end of it. That’s one reason why Shine, who still had not reached the NHL, would have been justified in thinking his time to reach the top league may have passed.

And with his son Cooper being born in April 2023, Shine had a family to think about as well. AHL travel is a grind. But again, he stuck with it for another year, and then another. He started playing the best hockey of his career, even though at that point he no longer really thought the NHL was in the cards.

“If I’m being honest with you, I thought it was over,” Shine said. “So, it was one thing that I kind of accepted. I love Grand Rapids, my family loves Grand Rapids. So I was OK with kind of just finishing my career there, giving it my all there, and I had kind of given up on it. In the back of my mind, obviously I wanted to. I knew I was playing good. I was like, ‘Man, maybe they would just give me a game at the end of the year, or give me something.’ But to get that call, it was obviously something I’ll never forget.”

The call came, fittingly enough, when he was out taking Cooper to buy his first pair of skates last January. The Red Wings wanted him to play that night. They needed him in Detroit in four hours, for a game they ultimately won 5-2.

Cooper didn’t get his skates that day, settling for a stick and a ball. But on a Red Wings off day earlier this week, he and Shine spent the day rollerblading. Meanwhile his dad is still getting better by the year, producing just under a point per game in Grand Rapids this season and with three NHL goals on his resume.

And those two facts may be more related than you’d realize.

“I think it’s just perspective on life, for me,” Shine said. “Maybe when you’re younger, you’re a little tense. You want it so bad that almost, it works against you. And I think I had Cooper, I kind of relaxed a little bit, and going away from the rink I just had great perspective on life. Not that hockey isn’t everything, it is, but there’s more to life than your job. And I think once you have that mentality of you go into work and just enjoying it, I think it’s really helped me and benefited me on the ice.”

Shine has remained with the Red Wings since being called up in late February, much to the delight of the many young Red Wings who came through Grand Rapids while he was there.

“It just shows (to) never give up, honestly,” Simon Edvinsson said. “I always thought he was a great, great player, and for him to come up and do what he does up here, it’s huge for the team and he’s such a good team player. I’m really, really happy for him.”

“He’s awesome,” Marco Kasper said. “Not just because he’s the captain (of the Griffins) — he wasn’t the captain when I was there — but he was just a leader in the room, and just off the ice too, just a great guy. Obviously plays fearless on the ice, he’s just awesome to be around. He’s the same to everybody. … It’s not just pumping up his tires. He’s genuinely one of the best guys to be around.”

That’s how Shine was able to stick around long enough to play the best hockey of his career. It’s how he endeared himself to teammates and the Red Wings organization. And it’s why he’s now nominated for an award that seems tailor-made for him.