DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings today assigned Calvin Pickard to the American Hockey League's Grand Rapids Griffins and reassigned center Kyle Criscuolo and defenseman Luke Witkowski to the Griffins from the team's taxi squad. Additionally, Detroit reassigned goaltender Kaden Fulcher to the team's taxi squad from the Griffins.
Red Wings shuffle taxi squad
Criscuolo, Pickard and Witkowski returned to Griffins; Fulcher joins taxi squad
Pickard, 28, ranks among the AHL's top goaltenders this season with 13 wins (T2nd), 1,541:40 minutes played (1st), a 2.34 goals-against average (7th), 783 saves (1st) and a 0.929 save percentage (3rd) in 26 games for Grand Rapids this season. Pickard saw time in three different leagues in 2020-21, notching a 2-1-1 record with a 3.16 goals-against average and 0.874 save percentage in six games with the Red Wings in addition to playing three games with the Griffins and six for the Vienna Capitals in Austria's top professional league. Pickard has appeared in nine games for Detroit over the last two seasons and has made 113 appearances in his NHL career, logging a 34-53-10 record, 3.01 goals-against average, 0.904 save percentage and four shutouts with the Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, Arizona Coyotes and Red Wings.
A 10th-year pro, Pickard has also played 262 AHL games with the Lake Erie Monsters, San Antonio Rampage, Toronto Marlies, Tucson Roadrunners and Griffins since 2011-12. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound netminder has a 124-92-24 record, 2.62 goals-against average, 0.914 save percentage and 16 shutouts. Originally drafted by the Avalanche in the second round (49th overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Pickard spent his entire major-junior career with the Western Hockey League's Seattle Thunderbirds from 2008-12, totaling a 91-120-27 record, 3.29 goals-against average, 0.909 save percentage and 12 shutouts. The Moncton, New Brunswick, native has also represented Canada at the 2016 and 2017 IIHF World Championships, winning a gold and silver medal, respectively.
Criscuolo, 29, has played parts of four seasons with the Griffins over two separate stints with the club, rejoining the organization in 2020-21 after signing with Grand Rapids to begin his professional career in 2015-16. Criscuolo has skated in two games for Detroit this season, earning his first NHL point with an assist on Dec. 18 vs. New Jersey, and previously logged nine NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres during the 2017-18 campaign. In 274 AHL games between the Griffins, Rochester Americans, Lehigh Valley Phantoms and San Diego Gulls, he has totaled 163 points (69-94-163), a plus-30 rating and 98 penalty minutes. As a first-year pro in 2016-17, Criscuolo helped the Griffins capture a Calder Cup championship, contributing 41 points (17-24-41) in 76 regular-season games and adding nine points (5-4-9) in 19 postseason contests. This season, the 5-foot-9, 175-pound forward leads the Griffins lead in points-per-game, racking up 25 points (12-13-25) in 24 games.
A native of Southampton, N.J., Criscuolo spent four seasons at Harvard University from 2012-16 and logged 113 points (53-60-113), a plus-42 rating and 46 penalty minutes in 124 collegiate games, serving as captain of the Crimson as a junior and senior. Harvard won an ECAC conference championship in 2015, and Criscuolo was a back-to-back ECAC Student-Athlete of the Year, All-Ivy League Second Team and All-ECAC Second Team member. Prior to his time at Harvard, Criscuolo spent the 2011-12 season in the USHL with the Sioux City Musketeers, notching 44 points (21-23-44) in 59 games.
Witkowski, 31, has skated in 25 games with the Griffins this season, picking up two points (0-2-2) and 47 penalty minutes. The Holland, Mich., native is in his second stint with the Red Wings after previously spending two seasons with the Red Wings from 2017-19 and logging six points (1-5-6) and 86 penalty minutes in 65 games. Witkowski rejoined the organization in the offseason after serving as captain of the AHL's Syracuse Crunch in 2020-21, posting two points (0-2-2), a plus-eight rating and 32 penalty minutes in 14 games before his season was cut short due to injury. In 2019-20, Witkowski appeared in 12 games with the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Tampa Bay Lightning, logging three points (1-2-3) and 13 penalty minutes while adding six points (2-4-6), a plus-12 rating and 63 penalty minutes in 29 games with the Crunch. Over nine professional seasons, Witkowski has notched 13 points (2-11-13) and 162 penalty minutes in 131 NHL games between Detroit and Tampa Bay and 49 points (9-40-49), a plus-34 rating and 666 penalty minutes in 286 AHL games with Syracuse and Grand Rapids.
Originally drafted by the Lightning in the sixth round (160th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Witkowski spent four seasons at Western Michigan University, where he won a CCHA championship in 2012 with Jeff Blashill as his head coach and was teammates with Red Wings defensemen Danny DeKeyser (2010-13) and Jordan Oesterle (2011-13). Witkowski was also a CCHA Second-Team All-Star as a senior in 2013 prior to signing his first professional contract and ended his collegiate career with 38 points (7-31-38), a plus-seven rating and 235 penalty minutes in 152 games from 2009-13. Witkowski also spent two seasons in the USHL from 2007-09, combining for 35 points (9-26-35), a plus-20 rating and 257 penalty minutes in 113 games between the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets and the Fargo Force, where he served as captain in 2008-09 and was a USHL All-Star.
Fulcher, 23, ranks among the top ECHL netminders in 2021-22, posting a 1.70 goals-against average (1st), 0.924 save percentage (7th) and two shutouts (T2nd) alongside a 4-3-0 record in eight games with the Toledo Walleye this season. Fulcher has split his four-year professional career between the Walleye and Griffins, sporting a 19-12-6 record, 2.86 goals-against average, 0.899 save percentage and three shutouts in 38 games with Toledo and a 2-2-2 record, 2.84 goals-against average, 0.905 save percentage and one shutout in seven appearances with Grand Rapids. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound netminder spent most of the 2020-21 season on Detroit's taxi squad and made one appearance for the Red Wings in relief duty on April 6, 2019 against Buffalo, stopping nine-of-11 shots in his NHL debut.
Originally signed by Detroit as an undrafted free agent on Oct. 3, 2017, Fulcher was a 2018 Ontario Hockey League champion with the Hamilton Bulldogs and posted a 57-44-13 record, 3.19 goals-against average, 0.893 save percentage and five shutouts in 115 OHL games from 2015-18. The 6-foot-3, 201-pound netminder was also named the Most Outstanding Goaltender at the Canadian Hockey League Memorial Cup following a 2.27 goals-against average and 0.918 save percentage in four games at the 2018 tournament.
