With the American Hockey League reaching the midpoint of its 90th anniversary season, NHL.com has a biweekly notebook breaking down all the happenings around the league.
This week’s edition examines a record first half for Grand Rapids (Detroit Red Wings), top prospects selected for the AHL All-Star Classic, a coaching change for Springfield (St. Louis Blues), and a top Calgary Flames prospect going to the AHL on a conditioning assignment.
Grand Rapids continues to pursue history
The affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings has slowed ever so slightly with three losses in its past four games.
Even so, Grand Rapids has a league-best 30-3-2-1 record through 36 games. The team’s first half included a 15-game winning streak and a 19-game point streak along with a 16-game road point streak. Grand Rapids also tied the 2005-06 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Pittsburgh Penguins) team with the AHL’s best 35-game start at 61 points.
The AHL record for points is 124, set by Binghamton (New York Rangers) in the 1992-93 season, which was 80 games; that Binghamton team also set the AHL record for points percentage (.775). Grand Rapids carried an .875 points percentage into the second half.
Grand Rapids will be represented by goalie Sebastian Cossa, forwards John Leonard and Dominik Shine, and coach Dan Watson at the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic on Feb. 10-11. Rockford (Chicago Blackhawks) will host the event.
AHL All-Star selections announced
Several other top prospects will be on display at the AHL All-Star Classic after the league announced its selections last week.
The round-robin, 3-on-3 tournament between each of the league’s four divisions and features 48 players. Twelve of them were first-round picks at the NHL Draft, and another seven were second-round selections.
Quinn Hutson, a forward with Bakersfield (Edmonton Oilers), has 38 points (23 goals, 15 assists), which leads all AHL rookies. His 23 goals rank second in the AHL and first among rookies. Jagger Firkus of Coachella Valley (Seattle Kraken) is tied for sixth in AHL scoring with 37 points (14 goals, 23 assists). Forwards Denver Barkey of Lehigh Valley (Philadelphia Flyers), Nick Lardis of Rockford (Blackhawks), Gabe Perreault of Hartford (Rangers), and Tim Washe of San Diego (Anaheim Ducks) are among the top rookie selections.
Among the goalies are Cossa, Jacob Fowler of Laval (Montreal Canadiens) and Sergei Murashov of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Pittsburgh Penguins). Fowler (2.09) and Murashov (2.14) are ranked first and second among rookies in goals-against average, and Murashov has a .923 save percentage, best among rookies.
Along with Watson, the other three coaches will be Ryan Mougenel of Providence (Boston Bruins), Pascal Vincent of Laval, and Mark Letestu of Colorado (Colorado Avalanche).
A coaching change for Springfield
The AHL saw its third coaching change on Jan. 19.
The Blues announced that Springfield coach Steve Konowalchuk had been replaced by Steve Ott, who was in his ninth season as an assistant with St. Louis and won the Stanley Cup in 2019. He also played 15 pro seasons and 848 NHL games with the Dallas Stars, Buffalo Sabres, Blues, Red Wings, and Canadiens. Springfield will be his first job as a head coach.
Springfield is last in the Atlantic Division with a 13-19-4-2 record. Konowalchuk, who had been hired by St. Louis in May 2024, finished 47-50-4-8 in his 109 games with Springfield.
Belleville (Ottawa Senators) and Chicago (Carolina Hurricanes) made coaching changes last month; Spiros Anastas replaced Cam Abbott with Chicago, and Andrew Campbell replaced David Bell in Belleville.
Parekh goes to the AHL
Defenseman Zayne Parekh, the No. 9 pick by the Flames at the 2024 NHL Draft, is getting some playing time in the AHL.
The 19-year-old started the season with the Flames and had one assist in 11 games while averaging 14:46 of ice time. An upper-body injury kept him out of the lineup until the Flames activated him from injured reserve on Dec. 12. He was loaned him to Canada for the IIHF World Junior Championship, where he had 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in seven games and won a bronze medal.
Parekh then returned to the Flames and missed additional time with another upper-body injury, so he was reassigned to Calgary of the AHL on Jan. 17.
He made his AHL debut Jan. 18 against Bakersfield but was held off the score sheet. Calgary next plays Jan. 24 at home against Laval.
