Like his teammate with the Peterborough Petes and Detroit Red Wings, Mickey Redmond, Danny Grant may have very well been on his way to a Hockey Hall of Fame worthy career until injuries took him down in his prime. The same fate met Redmond.
Grant played four years of junior hockey in the OHA with the Peterborough Petes from 1962-63 to 1965-66. In 1964-65, he tied for fourth in the OHA with 106 points. The leader that year, with 123 points, was Ken Hodge of the St. Catherines Black Hawks. Peterborough teammate Andre Lacroix finished second to Hodge with 119 points.
In his final year of junior, Danny led the OHA with 44 goals and second to Lacroix in the race for the Eddie Powers Trophy with 96 points. Andre led the league with 120. Grant got his first taste of the National Hockey League that year, playing one game with the Montreal Canadiens.
In 1967-68, Grant played 22 regular season games with Montreal. He played ten of 13 playoff games for the Canadiens. Montreal won the Stanley Cup with a sweep of the St. Louis Blues in the finals.
Because he only played 22 regular season games in 1967-68, Danny was still considered a rookie in 1968-69. He was sent by the Habs to the Minnesota North Stars and led the team in goals and points with 34 and 65 over 75 games. Grant was awarded the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie.
Danny Grant Collection
Danny played 736 regular season games in the NHL between 1965-66 and 1978-79 with the Canadiens, North Stars, Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings. 1974-75 was the pinnacle of his career on an individual level. Following that campaign, injuries plagued him for the rest of his career.
In 1974-75, the Red Wings were dismal, despite being led by Grant and Marcel Dionne. Danny scored 50 goals, one of just four 50 goal scorers in the NHL that season. The league leader was Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins with 61. Dionne placed third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy with 121 points. In the lead was Bobby Orr of the Bruins with 135 points.
Behind these two, there really wasn’t much going on in Detroit. The Alex Delvecchio coached Red Wings won just 23 of 80 games, while losing 45 and tying 12 for 58 points. Detroit finished fourth in the Norris Division and did not qualify for the post season.
Grant and Dionne were reunited with the Los Angeles Kings for parts of the 1977-78 and 1978-79 seasons. However, injuries reduced Danny’s game total to just a fraction of a full season both years.
The Danny Grant rookie card appears as number 52 in both the 1968-69 O-Pee-Chee and 1968-69 Topps hockey card sets. The O-Pee-Chee card is valued at $20, while the Topps card is worth just half that at $10. There is one major difference between the two cards. Both show him as a member of the North Stars. However, the O-Pee-Chee card actually shows him in a Minnesota jersey while the Topps card shows him in a Montreal jersey.
Danny Grant Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1962-63 | Peterborough Petes | OHA | 50 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 8 |
| 1963-64 | Peterborough Petes | OHA | 44 | 18 | 21 | 39 | 20 |
| 1964-65 | Peterborough Petes | OHA | 56 | 47 | 59 | 106 | 23 |
| 1964-65 | Quebec Aces | AHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1965-66 | Peterborough Petes | OHA | 48 | 44 | 52 | 96 | 34 |
| 1965-66 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1966-67 | Houston Apollos | CPHL | 64 | 22 | 28 | 50 | 29 |
| 1967-68 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 22 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 |
| 1967-68 | Houston Apollos | CPHL | 19 | 14 | 8 | 22 | 6 |
| 1968-69 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 75 | 34 | 31 | 65 | 46 |
| 1969-70 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 76 | 29 | 28 | 57 | 23 |
| 1970-71 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 78 | 34 | 23 | 57 | 46 |
| 1971-72 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 78 | 18 | 25 | 43 | 18 |
| 1972-73 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 78 | 32 | 35 | 67 | 12 |
| 1973-74 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 78 | 29 | 35 | 64 | 16 |
| 1974-75 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 80 | 50 | 36 | 86 | 28 |
| 1975-76 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 39 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 20 |
| 1976-77 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 42 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 4 |
| 1977-78 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 13 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 1977-78 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 41 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 2 |
| 1978-79 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 35 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 8 |
| 1981-82 | Fredericton Express | AHL | 18 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 4 |
| NHL Totals | 736 | 263 | 272 | 535 | 239 |