The Dundee Stars have completed the signing of defensive defenceman Griffin Luce, with the American inking a one-year deal with the Elite League outfit.
Luce joins the Stars with five seasons of professional experience, following a four-year stint with the NCAA’s University of Michigan Wolverines.
The 27-year-old was a blueline mainstay for the Worcester Railers last term, recording 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in 71 ECHL appearances — the highest tally of his career.
“Griffin is a big, no-nonsense, two-way defenseman,” said Dundee head coach Marc LeFebvre.
“He is mobile and he brings experience as well as physicality to our lineup.
“He has a touch of offense to his game also and his overall attributes are something we were lacking last season and I cannot wait to work with him.”
Who is Dundee Stars defenceman Griffin Luce?
Luce is a product of the collegiate hockey system in the United States.
The Williamsville, New York-born blueliner graduated from the United States National Team Development Programme to claim a roster spot at the University of Michigan, where he spent four seasons.
Luce made 131 appearances in the NCAA, recording 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) from a shutdown role on the Wolverines’ third pair.
The American entered the professional ranks in 2020-21, spending the next five seasons jumping between the American Hockey League and ECHL.
Luce’s 94-game American Hockey League career yielded 12 points (two goals, 10 assists), with his stint in the ECHL amounting to 34 points (eight goals, 26 assists) in 146 games played.
What will Griffin Luce bring to the Elite League’s Dundee Stars?
Luce, as outlined by his new head coach, is a physical unit.
Standing at 6-foot-3, the 1998-born blueliner is a net-front clearing specialist who isn’t afraid to engage physically to make his mark on the game.
Griffin Luce, Dundee Stars (Image: Worcester Railers)
Unlikely to produce much in the way of offence, Luce is set for a second-pair role in Dundee, earning extra ice time on the penalty kill.
“Marc reached out to me and after some chats, a little bit of research on the town and the team in general, I thought this would be a really good for for me, so I am really excited to be coming to Dundee,” Luce said of LeFebvre.
“I think this will be a really good fit for me as a player and to grow my personal game but also to help my team out as well.
“This will be my first time going over to Europe, so it was important to me to be able to establish a relationship with the coach right away, because it is something new to me and being able to have that comfortability with the coach before heading over really makes that transition a little bit easier.”
Luce is the fifth defenceman to put pen to paper with the Stars for the upcoming season, joining Drydn Down, Craig Moore, Jackson Desouza, and Kris Inglis in Dundee.
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