Wings Re-Sign Hicketts for Two Years

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday re-signed defenseman Joe Hicketts to a two-year contract.

Hicketts, 23, notched 27 points (3-24—27) in 64 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2018-19, pacing all team defensemen in scoring and assists while ranking third in goals and adding a plus-two rating and 67 penalty minutes. A 5-foot-8, 180-pound blueliner, Hicketts skated in 11 games with the Red Wings across two stints at the beginning and end of the campaign and averaged 18:35 of ice time.

Originally signed by Detroit as an undrafted free agent in September 2014, Hicketts has played in 16 career games with the Red Wings in the last two seasons and picked up three assists and two PIM. He became the 168th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL when he made his debut on Jan. 22, 2018 at New Jersey and notched his first point on an assist on March 27, 2018 vs. Pittsburgh.

Entering his fourth year as a professional, Hicketts has skated in 204 regular season games with the Griffins since 2016-17, posting 73 points (13-60—73), a plus-seven rating and 139 PIM. He helped Grand Rapids claim the Calder Cup as a rookie in 2017 and in total has made 29 Calder Cup Playoff appearances, showing 11 points (1-10—11), a plus-seven rating and 18 PIM.

A native of Kamloops, British Columbia, Hicketts represented Canada on two occasions at the World Junior Championship, winning gold in 2015 and serving as an alternate captain in 2016.

Prior to turning pro, Hicketts played in 224 games with the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League from 2012-16 and amassed 173 points (32-141—173). Captaining the Royals for his final two seasons, Hicketts was named to the Western Conference’s Second All-Star Team in 2014-15 and the First All-Star Team in 2015-16.

With the release of the Griffins’ 2019-20 schedule, group tickets for all home dates at Van Andel Arena are now on sale, along with 2019-20 season ticket packages. Single-game tickets will go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. on Sept. 13. Fans can secure their full-season, select-season or group ticket packages by calling (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visit griffinshockey.com for more information.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins