Newly re-named Red Wings ECHL affiliate, the Toledo Walleye, will apparently be holding tryouts. Unfortunately, spots for this season’s free agent tryout are all filled, but the website has a form to fill out to be contacted for future tryouts.
Red Wings fans may remember the Walleye better as the Storm, as they’ve undergone a re-branding of sorts.
The Red Wings are expected to send one of their goaltending prospects to Toledo for the season, as starts will be limited if all three are kept on the Griffins. Daniel Larsson is a lock to play in Grand Rapids this season, so the battle will come down to Thomas McCollum and Jordan Pearce. One would argue that McCollum is more polished than Pearce, but he’s also three years younger, and would (perhaps) benefit from getting the majority of starts in the ECHL as opposed to playing backup in the AHL.
Thoughts? I know Kyle‘s going to get in on this conversation, and I can’t wait to see who he thinks it’ll be.
My early line? Pearce 3:2.
Prospects talk? Of course I'm game!
I think you could actually say that Pearce is more polished than McCollum. But McCollum has better tools at his disposal. He's quicker, bigger, his glove hand is sickening, etc. But it's tough to gauge whether McCollum's skills outway Pearce's experience or vice versa.
For prospects, every year makes such a huge difference. From childhood all the way up to about the early 20s, when you're a hockey player, being one year older means you're one year stronger, smarter, and more polished. Pearce has three years on McCollum. However, McCollum was a three year starter in the OHL (pretty rare), while Pearce was only a two year starter in the CCHA. Does that make a difference? I don't really know.
Pearce's AHL debut last year leaves something to be desired, but he's probably better focused this season. I think those three years do make a big difference.
I think McCollum will start in Toledo so he can have a heavier schedule to get into his rhythm. I see him dominating though, so I don't think it will be too long until they bring up McCollum and send Pearce down.
According to McCollum himself, he will be in Grand Rapids with Larsson, in which the 2 of them will "try out" for starting position and Pearce, who has already signed, will be starting goalie for Toledo. This is from a conversation I had with McCollum at the Developement Camp at the Joe a few weeks ago.
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