When needed, the Detroit Red Wings know that they can call upon forward Taro Hirose and count on him to fill a role on their roster.

Hirose did so again late in the 2021-22 NHL season and that was no doubt playing a role in Saturday’s announcement that the Red Wings and Hirose were agreeing to a two-year contract extension. The pact will keep Hirose in the Detroit organization through the 2023-24 season.

Hirose, 25, ended up playing 15 games for the Red Wings during the 2021-22 campaign, The 5-foot-10, 162-pound left-winger collected one goal and three assists.

His 57 career NHL games have seen him posting 4-16-20 totals. The Red Wings originally signed Hirose as a college free agent out of the Michigan State Spartans in 2019.

Hirose Dominant For Griffins

With the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins, Hirose was a standout performer. His 53 points in 59 games from 15 goals and 38 assists tied for second on the club in scoring. Griffins coach Ben Simon is of the belief that he’ll will only continue getting better, simply because he believes that Hirose is a player who is driven to succeed and to grow his game.

“Taro Hirose, he’s proven that he can be an elite player at this level, he can produce at this level,” Simon said. “He’s a great puck distributor, and is confident making plays. He’s got a small, slight build but he’s not afraid to go into hard areas. He does compete.

“I think that Taro – we talked at the end of the year – he wants to be one of those guys that your talking about in the same breath as guys, you know, all the hype about (Andrew) Poturalski and 100 points and (T.J.) Tynan, who was close to 100 points this year.

“If he’s gonna be in Grand Rapids, or if he’s gonna be in the American League, he wants to be one of those go-to guys who’s significantly producing at those levels and he’s gonna challenge himself this summer to come back and do that.”

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