Red Wings extend John Leonard after breakout Griffins scoring surge

Detroit did more than paper over a roster spot on Thursday. By signing John Leonard to a one-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $850,000 for the 2026-27 season, the Red Wings made a clear bet on a forward who has become too productive to leave hanging over the summer.

Leonard, 27, has turned his season in Grand Rapids into a statement. He entered the final weekend with 32 goals and 21 assists for 53 points in 46 games, production that put him tied for second in the American Hockey League in goals and made him one of the league’s most efficient scorers. He also led the AHL with five shorthanded goals and finished with eight game-winners, numbers that say as much about timing and instincts as they do about finishing touch.

The early scoring burst made the run even louder. Leonard scored 20 goals in his first 21 games, the kind of pace that forces an organization to rethink where a player sits in its depth chart. He was rewarded with a spot on the 2025-26 AHL Second All-Star Team, his second straight Second Team selection after earning the honor with Charlotte in 2024-25. Grand Rapids had not placed a player on an AHL All-Star Team since Riley Barber in 2020-21, and Leonard was the first Griffin named to the Second Team since Robbie Russo in 2015-16.

That context matters. This was not just about locking in a hot scorer for one more year. It was about preserving continuity around a player who has been one of the Griffins’ most dangerous transition threats and one of their most dependable special-teams pieces. In a league where top-line production can evaporate fast once the calendar turns, keeping Leonard under contract gives Grand Rapids a known offensive driver and gives Detroit a player it can trust if NHL injuries open a door.

Leonard already showed he could handle the next level, too. He played 11 games for Detroit this season and posted two goals and two assists, enough to reinforce the idea that he is more than an AHL finisher on a heater. Drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the sixth round in 2018, 182nd overall, Leonard has built a long development arc into one of the sharper stories in the organization’s pipeline. Now Detroit has kept the payoff in-house.