Watson says Griffins holding onto strides made, taking key growth experiences from historic 2025-26 season

DETROIT -- Surveying a historic and remarkable 30th anniversary campaign that came to an end in the Central Division Finals of the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs, head coach Dan Watson explained that the Grand Rapids Griffins intend to use it all as fuel for necessary growth.

“Over the course of 72 games, we were a great team,” Watson told DetroitRedWings.com on Saturday afternoon. “We did a lot of really good things, and we learned a lot about one another. Then you get to the playoffs, and it’s a whole new ball game. At that point in time, the intensity ramps up and the mental games play a big part of that. We did a really good job in the regular season just shifting our focus and focusing on the next game. We didn’t talk about winning streaks or our record. We talked about our process of playing the game the right way. But you add in the factor of trying to win games in the playoffs and the expectation of being a great regular-season team, and that pressure may have gotten to some of the guys a little bit. What we’ll focus on and take away from that is we have to be stronger mentally, add a little more grit to our game and have some mental toughness.”

The Griffins posted a franchise-best 51-16-4-1 overall record (107 points) during the regular season, finishing first in both the Central Division and Western Conference while ranking second overall in the American Hockey League. But after defeating the Manitoba Moose in the Central Division Semifinals, Detroit’s AHL affiliate couldn’t get past the Chicago Wolves.

All four games in Grand Rapids’ best-of-five series against Chicago were decided by a single goal, marking the first time in franchise history that every contest in a postseason series was determined by that margin.

“It boils down to who scores the big goals and who makes the big saves, and [the Wolves] did both,” Watson said. “Both goaltenders were really good. Primeau made some excellent saves against us and they scored the big-time goals…Game 3 was our best game by far at 5-on-5 in both the regular season and playoffs combined, so we deserved to win that one for sure…As easy as it sounds, a lot of times the margin of error is so slim in playoff series that you lose three games by one goal. It could’ve gone either way, regardless of who the better team was analytically, but they got the job done.”

The Griffins’ play on both sides of the puck during the regular season -- they were second in the AHL in goals per game (3.54) and first in goals allowed (2.21) – is certainly worth recognizing and a big part of why they were able to make history.

“Our guys took a lot of pride in keeping pucks out of our own net and making sure we took care of our own zone,” Watson said. “Analytically, we were the top team for expected goals against throughout these entire playoffs so far, which is something we take pride in. But part of our process this offseason will be figuring out how we were scoring those goals during the regular season and why didn’t that translate in the playoffs. What do we need to do differently to make sure that we’re scoring playoff-type goals all year long? I believe that boils down to, a lot of times, around the net…But our offensive structure and the ability to score goals, we took a major step from last year to this year in that regard.”

This season, several youngsters also gained valuable experience across the board and were led by veterans that held everyone accountable in Grand Rapids’ dressing room. That, paired with a focus on better navigating adversity in the future, shows there’s a lot of good things in store for this club.

“The next time any of us go through this, I’ve been through this a little bit coaching in Toledo and even my first year here, you learn a little bit more about mental resiliency,” Watson said. “Not just the physical side of it, but you learn how to get through it the next time. As much as we talk about learning from our losses and moving on, the playoff losses sting a little bit more. You learn a little bit quicker and faster on how to adapt to those situations. These are all experiences you have to learn as a player because they’ll help you grow. And for our group, we’re set to have a lot of returning guys, they’ve lived it and now can learn from it.”

Watson said what he’ll individually take away from his third campaign in Grand Rapids, which featured a second straight AHL All-Star Classic nod, is the continued process of developing and learning how to succeed as a head coach.

“I want to handle things the right way,” Watson said. “Whether its with referees, the adversity you play with, lineup changes, communication or direct feedback, it’s all about making sure the players get what they need from me. I think I’m continuing to build on that.”

Now, for Watson and his coaching staff, the attention turns to laying the groundwork for the 2026-27 campaign.

“That process of reflection [for this season] will take a couple weeks at least, and then we’ll start to focus on preparing for next season,” Watson said. “That’s going to be part of, okay, we’ve identified that maybe our power play wasn’t great in the regular season. What do we need to do in that area? Especially once we get to know our roster a little bit better, but even the returning players. Our 5-on-5, whatever system comes out of that, what do we need to do better? Is there a better process for analyzing video and data? What can we do better? Everything is going to be geared towards next year as we start to move into the middle of June, and especially July and August.”