Detroit Red Wings: A Handful of Griffins a Phone Call Away
By Bob Heyrman
The Ottawa Senators selected Matt Puempel 24th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Level Draft. Puempel has struggled to find his way in the NHL.
Matt had a cup of coffee with the Sens in three straight seasons between 2014-17. With the Sens across those three seasons, Puemp played in 52 games, scoring 4 times and adding 2 assists. Matt was a minus 2.
The Sens shipped Matt Puempel out-of-town in 2017 to the New York Rangers. The Essex, Ontario native scored in his first New York Rangers game. Matt would play 27 games for the Rangers in total. Puempel scored 6 goals and added 3 assists for 9 points in New York.
The New York Rangers worked Puempel on their power play as a net presence type of guy. Other than the power play work Matt found himself skating on the 4th line, logging spotty minutes many nights.
The Detroit Red Wings traded Ryan Sproul to the Rangers for Matt Puempel last summer. Matt Puempel finished last season third in Grand Rapids total scoring. Puempel recorded 22 goals and 54 points playing in 57 contests with the Griffins.
Matt Puempel, now 25-years-old, 6’1, 205-pound winger at times hesitant to throw his weight around on the forecheck. Matt isn’t the best skater, average at best. Puempel does have a scoring touch, throughout his junior hockey days, Matt was a point a night type player similar to last season with the Griffins.
Matt has been willing to go to the net in his career, looking to bang home a rebound or redirect a point shot. Last season Detroit decided to leave Matt in Grand Rapids in favor of other options. Domonic Turgeon & Evgeny Svechnikov both got the call instead of Puempel.
Puempel who lacks defensive ability at times, and doesn’t kill penalties. Like we mentioned he’s not a “great” skater and doesn’t play a grinding style needed to be a regular on the 4th line. The Detroit Red Wings would call upon Puempel if they needed a top 9 scoring winger.
I believe Matt is starting to slip into that career AHL type player category. Matt with a small sample size in the NHL is a guy who was a captain in junior. Matt can serve as a good leader in Grand Rapids; he can help the young players develop and push them to the next level. Matt Puempel is there if the Detroit Red Wings need him but Michael Rasmussen, Joe Veleno, Evgeny Svechnikov and Filip Zadina are looking more like the players the Wings will look towards in the future.