Rookie goaltender Kaden Fulcher, who is coming off a championship season in junior hockey, will be in training camp with the Toledo Walleye.
The Detroit Red Wings assigned Fulcher to the Walleye on Thursday. Fulcher, 20, led the Hamilton Bulldogs to an Ontario Hockey League title last season. Fulcher appeared in 21 games in the Robertson Cup playoffs and posted a 16-3-2 record with a 2.70 goals-against average, which was tops in the league.
Fulcher, a native of Brigden, Ontario, signed with the Red Wings last October and was in training camp with Toledo's NHL parent club.
The 6-foot-4, 183-pound goaltender appeared in 55 regular-season games for Hamilton last year. He posted a 32-17-2 record with a 2.86 GAA and .899 save percentage.
By winning the OHL championship, Fulcher helped Hamilton earn a berth in the Memorial Cup tournament. The Bulldogs lost in the semifinal round of the Memorial Cup, which pits the champions of the three major junior hockey leagues in Canada.
Fulcher was named the Most Outstanding Goaltender at the Memorial Cup. He posted the best GAA (2.27) and save percentage (.918) during the prestigious tournament.
Fulcher played three seasons in the OHL and posted 56 wins with five shutouts.
On Tuesday, the Red Wings assigned veteran goaltender Pat Nagle to Toledo.
Nagle, a 31-year-old native of Bloomfield, Mich., had a career year with the Walleye last season. Nagle led the ECHL in wins with 37 victories, was an all-star, and earned second-team All-ECHL honors while setting a Toledo ECHL record for goaltender wins in a single season.
Nagle had signed a one-year contract with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Toledo's American Hockey League affiliate. It is the same deal he had with the AHL organization last season.
Fulcher and Nagle will be in Toledo when the Walleye open training camp on Monday.
The organization's 10th anniversary begins with a preseason game at Kalamazoo on Oct. 5. Toledo then hosts the K-Wings on Oct. 6 in its second preseason game. The season opener is on the road with a game at Greenville on Oct. 12. Toledo's home opener is Oct. 27 against rival Fort Wayne.
Contact Mark Monroe at mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354, or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.
First Published September 27, 2018, 11:10 p.m.
