FYI:
UPDATE: The #RedWings today agreed to terms with center Kyle Criscuolo and goaltender Kevin Boyle on one-year contracts. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/qHMpkiE8au— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 9, 2020
UPDATE: The #RedWings today agreed to terms with right wing Riley Barber on a two-year contract. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/XuRPmHheSK— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 9, 2020
Criscuolo is 28 and he once played for the Grand Rapids Griffins; Boyle is also 28 and played for San Diego last year; Barber is 26 and played for the Canadiens and Penguins’ AHL teams last year.
Here is a major incoming haul for Grand Rapids — goaltender Kevin Boyle and Kyle Criscuolo (a Grand Rapids alum) are coming over from San Diego.
Detroit also signed long-time AHL scorer Riley Barber, who split time between Laval and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.#AHL pic.twitter.com/5Yfa4LC6KW— PATRICK WILLIAMS (@pwilliamsNHL) October 9, 2020
South Jersey’s Kyle Criscuolo, who played with the #Flyers‘ farm team in LV last year before being dealt in the Derek Grant trade, signed a two-way deal with Detroit.— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) October 9, 2020
What a fun ride it was, @Boyle33!
Good luck with the Detroit organization! pic.twitter.com/vvwWsjRoWI— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) October 9, 2020
Kyle Criscuolo #RedWings 1-year, 2-way $700K AAV— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) October 9, 2020
Three AHL veterans join organization including Criscuolo, 2017 Calder Cup champion in Grand Rapids. #LGRW #NHLFreeAgency
Details: https://t.co/v3ttxUaxtp pic.twitter.com/K9KGowA9V8— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 9, 2020
Here’s the Wings’ press release:
Red Wings add Riley Barber, Kyle Criscuolo and Kevin Boyle
Three AHL veterans join organization including Criscuolo, 2017 Calder Cup champion in Grand Rapids.
DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today agreed to terms with right wing Riley Barber on a two-year contract and center Kyle Criscuolo and goaltender Kevin Boyle on one-year contracts.
Barber, 26, is a veteran of 283 American Hockey League games, posting 217 points (106-111-217) and 204 penalty minutes over five seasons with the Hershey Bears, Laval Rocket and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Barber saw time with three teams in 2019-20 appearing in nine games with the Montreal Canadiens, logging 31 points (13-18-31) in 39 games with Laval and picking up six points (3-3-6) in seven games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after he was traded from Montreal to Pittsburgh on Feb. 20. Barber previously had a three-game NHL stint with the Washington Capitals in the 2016-17 season and has totaled 12 NHL games over his professional career. The 6-foot, 190-pound winger also has 15 points (5-10-15) in 38 career AHL postseason games.
Originally drafted by the Capitals in the sixth round (167th overall) of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Barber signed with the Capitals after spending three seasons at Miami University, where he scored at over a point-per-game pace with 123 points (54-69-123), a plus-24 rating and 62 penalty minutes in 116 games. Barber earned several collegiate honors, including CCHA Rookie of the Year and First All-Star Team in 2012-13 and NCHC Second All-Star Team in 2013-14, and helped the RedHawks to a conference championship in 2014-15. He also won a 2011 Clark Cup championship in the United States Hockey League with the Dubuque Fighting Saints and spent the 2011-12 season with the U.S. National Team Development Program. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native captained the United States at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship after winning gold at the event in 2013, combining for 12 points (7-5-12) in 12 games between the two tournaments.
Criscuolo, 28, returns for his second stint in the organization after starting his professional career with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins, making his pro debut at the end of the 2015-16 season and winning a Calder Cup championship in 2016-17 as a first-year pro, posting 41 points (17-24-41), a plus-17 rating and 14 penalty minutes in 80 total regular-season games and adding nine points (5-4-9), a plus-six rating and 14 penalty minutes in 19 postseason games during the championship run. The 5-foot-9, 178-pound forward earned his first NHL contract that summer and played in nine NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres in 2017-18. In four professional seasons, Criscuolo has appeared in 221 AHL games with the Griffins, Rochester Americans, Lehigh Valley Phantoms and San Diego Gulls, notching 119 points (46-73-119), a plus-29 rating and 76 penalty minutes.
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.
Boyle, 28, joins the Red Wings after spending four seasons in the Anaheim Ducks organization. He played 20 games for their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, in 2019-20, posting a 9-7-2 record, 2.82 goals-against average and 0.911 save percentage. In 117 career AHL games, all with San Diego, Boyle owns a 62-38-10 record, 2.71 goals-against average, 0.915 save percentage and two shutouts. The 6-foot-1, 197-pound netminder posted a shutout in his first NHL start with Anaheim on Feb. 13, 2019, stopping all 35 shots he faced against the Vancouver Canucks. In five career NHL appearances, Boyle is 1-3-0 with a 2.17 goals-against average and 0.928 save percentage.
Originally signed by Anaheim as an undrafted free agent in March 2016, Boyle spent two collegiate seasons at the University of Massachusetts from 2011-13 before transferring to UMass-Lowell for his final two seasons (2014-16). Boyle capped off his senior season with Hockey East Goaltender of the Year and Player of the Year honors and was the most-valuable player of the conference tournament, going 24-10-5 with a 1.83 goals-against average and 0.934 save percentage in 39 games. The Manalapan, N.J. native was previously an All-Rookie Team selection in the British Columbia Hockey League after posting a 20-16-1 record with the Westside Warriors in 2010-11.
Here’s even more from Michigan Hockey’s Michael Caples:
Riley Barber may not have been born in Michigan, but he sure is familiar with the Great Lakes State.
Now, he’s a member of the Detroit Red Wings.
Barber, who moved from Pennsylvania to Michigan to play for Compuware for his final years of youth hockey before making the jump to juniors, signed a two-year deal with the Original Six franchise today.
His family has resided in Michigan since; younger brother, Cullen, played for Livonia Stevenson before eventually heading to Ferris State to split time between their NCAA and ACHA programs.
Barber played one season with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL before coming back to Michigan to play for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in 2011-12. From there, he played three seasons for the Miami RedHawks, then turned pro with the Washington Capitals, the NHL franchise that had selected him in the sixth round of the 2012 draft.
Since, he has cracked an NHL line-up for 12 games – three with Washington in 2016-17, and nine with Montreal this past season.
Welcome back to the organization, Crisco!
? https://t.co/kkvvESxAOz pic.twitter.com/qwahN3Gvx0— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) October 9, 2020
Excited for a return to Michigan! Only good memories within the organization. Can’t wait to reunite with everyone. https://t.co/ffmGiV37fi
— Kyle Criscuolo (@_KC11_) October 9, 2020
Thank you ? @SDGullsAHL @AnaheimDucks pic.twitter.com/TqA9i1BKbA
— Kevin Boyle (@Boyle33) October 9, 2020
Tough to put all my emotions into words. Thank you guys so much for turning my dream into a reality!! It was an amazing four years ?? https://t.co/XBnQuM6vDO
— Kevin Boyle (@Boyle33) October 9, 2020
