DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner examines Tom McCollum’s 2017-18 season, and Wings goaltending development coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson praises McCollum’s efforts to stabilize the Grand Rapids Griffins’ crease while Jared Coreau was in Detroit:
Quotable: “Last season he came off the summertime with a lower-body injury, so for Tom it took him a good month to get into goalie shape and finally got his wheels going in November and by that time once December rolled around, he became the winningest goalie in Grand Rapids Griffins history. Once Jared Coreau went up (to Detroit) he established himself again as the No. 1 with Matej Machovsky coming up from Toledo. Actually, in his last 25 games, including the playoffs, he went 17 wins and eight losses with over a .927 save percentage.
So for Tommy, he ended the year high and going forward whether he’s with Grand Rapids or another organization, he gave it what he had to solidify another contract next year. The reality within our organization is we have a lot of young prospects and maybe one in Kaden Fulcher who may be ready to turn into the pro ranks, but we’re going to, consistently as a growing organization that wants to get younger in the crease, we’re going to look at younger prospects to fill that role. For Tom, it’s still a negotiation process come July 1 with the Detroit Red Wings and other organizations, because he is an unrestricted free agent and so is Jared Coreau. It’s going to be an interesting process for those two and we’ll see happens when that time comes.” – Brian Mahoney-Wilson, Detroit’s goaltending development coach
