How are the Jakub Rychlovský and Alexandre Doucet experiments working out so far?

In the last two seasons, the Grand Rapids Griffins have been looking to bolster their goal-scoring talent, and the Red Wings have been looking for some pure goal-scorers to add to their prospect pool.

Unfortunately, the draft lottery hasn't been kind to the Red Wings and most of the pure goal-scorers the draft offers have either been taken before the Red Wings pick or the organization felt they needed a defenseman over a pure goal-scorer.

I won't complain about that strategy, since it allowed the team to get Mo Seider and Simon Edvinsson. But at the same time, not getting a guy that when the puck is on their stick you're confident it's going into the back of the net has been a problem for the Red Wing's long-term plans.

Grand Rapids had players like Taro Hirose and Austin Czarnik at the time. Both of them were good scorers at the American Hockey League (AHL) level, but their skills weren't enough to push them back into the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Griffins, the Red Wings at the time didn't have any prospects coming in that were projected to give them the offense they needed to get over the playoff hump. Thankfully, the Red Wings signed two players who, at the time of their signing, were the best goal-scorers in their respective leagues.

Detroit Red Wings sign two undrafted and unknown stars: Jakub Rychlovský and Alexandre Doucet. Here's how they're doing with the Grand Rapids Griffins

Alexandre Doucet signed in the 2023-24 off-season, coming in as the leading goal-scorer in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) with 58 goals and 115 points in 70 games. Being billed as a highly skilled and precise playmaker who can skate and pass through the opposition with ease.

After being signed to an entry-level contract (ELC), he was quickly assigned to the Griffins, where he played six games. Then, Doucet was sent to play for the Toledo Walleye in the ECHL, where he would begin to find his stride at the professional level of hockey. Scoring 19 goals and 41 points in 52 games with the Walleye gave the Red Wings organization the confidence to give him the nod to graduate to the Griffins roster for the 2024-25 season.

His consistency seems to be a bit closer to Joe Veleno than Dylan Larkin, putting him on pace for 10 goals and 25 points in 67 games. It's not necessarily the high-end offense the team was probably looking for, but it's a promising sight to know that he can produce at a decent rate in the AHL at this point in his career. With one season left in his ELC, he still has time to prove that he can produce at a professional level. He has also become "adored" by some of the Griffins' faithful.

Jakub Rychlovský was signed just one year after Doucet in the 2024-25 off-season and much like Doucet was in the QMJHL, Rychlovský was the leading goal scorer in the Czech league with 26 goals and 46 points in 51 games. However, unlike Doucet, he has stayed with Grand Rapids for the entire AHL season so far.

Personally, I believe keeping him in Grand Rapids all season was a mistake. While the Czech League is considered to be one of the best in the world. It's nowhere near as difficult as the AHL is. The fact that he only has 3 goals and 7 points in 36 AHL games should prove that in itself. It's honestly pretty surprising that he hasn't been sent to Toledo at all this season. His lack of production with the Griffins could probably be explained by him simply not being used to North American ice and playstyle, so sending him to an easier league like the ECHL to get used to both seemed an obvious play, especially in the first year of his two-year deal. He still shows flashes of his abilities but hasn't been able to put it together in North America yet. According to some of the Griffins faithful, Rychlovský has a goofy personality and seems to enjoy every minute of his time playing the game.