Rather remarkably, the league-leading Grand Rapids Griffins continue to see their line-up grow stronger as they pursue what could be the best season in AHL history.

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Goaltender Michal Postava has returned to health after sustaining an injury in Chicago on Nov. 9. Now forward Amadeus Lombardi is back as well, rejoining the Grand Rapids line-up for their 5-4 overtime loss at Milwaukee on Tuesday night. Lombardi, who had a 19-goal season in 2024-25, had not played since Nov. 21.

And then there is defenseman Shai Buium, settling in on the Grand Rapids blueline as one of the most important young pieces the Detroit Red Wings have in their organization. But a strong rookie season for Buium did not carry over into the fall months for the 22-year-old, who went to the Red Wings as a second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. In training camp with the Red Wings, an upper-body injury put Buium out of the line-up for the first half of the AHL season. This setback came after he had played 67 of 72 regular-season games in 2024-25 and finished with 2-23-25 to rank second in scoring among Grand Rapids defensemen. His first crack at a pro schedule finished with three appearances in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

He certainly missed a lot while he was gone, too. The Griffins put together a remarkable opening three months to their season, going 29-1-1-1. That effort stands as the best 32-game start to a season in the AHL’s 90 seasons. Twice an NCAA national champion at the University of Denver, now he has a chance to pursue a Calder Cup.

Buium’s big day came last Friday night when he made his season debut for the Griffins in a rare 2-0 loss at home to the Texas Stars. His return prompted the Griffins to go with seven defensemen, and head coach Dan Watson came away pleased with what he saw from his healed-up blueliner.

“I thought he was good,” Watson told the Grand Rapids media after the game. “I mean, there's going to be some moments where there's a slow read or the pace got a little bit too quick or he tires out a little bit, but that's to be expected. But overall, I think he skated well. I thought he saw the ice well.

You know, you see he's a smart player. We've seen [him] before, he'll get back to it. It's going to take him a little bit, but it's nice to see him back out there with our team.”

On Tuesday in Milwaukee, Watson went back to six defensemen. NHL veteran Justin Holl came back into line-up and paired with Buium. The rust that Buium may have had in his season debut seemed to wear away facing the Admirals, and he matched the team lead with four shots.

In picking up a point against the Admirals, the Griffins tied the AHL record with their 16th game recording at least one point on the road (14-0-1-1).

Next up on the schedule for Grand Rapids are home dates Friday against the Rockford IceHogs and Saturday’s rematch with the Griffins at Van Andel Arena.

There are two ways to look at a midseason return like this for a young prospect. One side is that he may well need some period of time to catch up to the league’s midseason pace around him, both with teammates and opponents. However, he also has far less wear-and-tear. The Griffins have eight games in 16 nights to close out their January schedule. February, even with the AHL All-Star break built in, features 11 games. And the close of the season in April will bring eight games in 19 nights. All of that will come before what could be a two-month grind through the postseason for a team that has to be the unquestioned favorite to win the Calder Cup given this first-half performance.

So there will be plenty of hockey for Buium to play should the Griffins take their season all the way deep into June.

For now, though, the Griffins and Buium are just happy to have him healthy and back on the ice.

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