Will Sebastian Cossa be with Detroit Red Wings next season? 'He's stil got work to do'
The Detroit Red Wings thought highly enough of Sebastian Cossa to trade up in the 2021 NHL draft to get him, and to ignore the rankings and pass on Jesper Wallstedt, who had been projected to be the first goaltender selected that year.
Three years later, Cossa is a hot topic among fans. Eddie R. echoed multiple readers who over the past couple weeks when he wrote to ask, "Any chance we see Cossa playing for the Wings next year? Seems like he's ready for the big league."
Watching a prospect make the team is incredibly fun and, for the organization, incredibly gratifying, and, frankly, incredibly vital. Teams need to successfully draft and develop in order to be competitive.
SNEAK PEEK: Which Red Wings prospects should we expect on next season's roster?
Look at what a difference Moritz Seider (selected No. 6 overall in 2019) and Lucas Raymond (No. 4, 2020) have made. They've become pillars of the Red Wings. This spring, Simon Edvinsson (No. 6, 2021) showed he's ready to join that list. It's an impressive streak for Steve Yzerman since he was named general manager in April 2019.
Yzerman had two first-round picks in 2021, thanks to his having traded Anthony Mantha to the Washington Capitals at the 2021 deadline; the return, besides Jakub Vrana, was the Capitals' first-round pick. Yzerman used that pick, at No. 23, to persuade the Dallas Stars to flip picks, giving the Wings their selection at 15th. (The Stars turned around and used the 23rd overall pick on right-shooting center Wyatt Johnston, who scored 24 goals as a rookie in 2022-23 and followed up with 32 goals this past season; he has 11 points in 13 playoff games this spring and turned 21 on Tuesday).
Wallstedt topped the goaltending rankings entering the draft because he was already playing in the top-level Swedish Hockey League at age 18. (The Minnesota Wild took him at No. 20). Cossa had an impressive 1.57 goals-against average and .941 save percentage with the Edmonton Oil Kings, one of the best teams in North American junior hockey at that time.
"You hope you’re getting a starting goaltender,” Yzerman said at the time. “We think he has the talent to do that. There’s a lot of work to be done between being drafted and being a starter in the NHL, but we think he has that ability. He’s big, very athletic, technically sound.”
Cossa (6 feet 6, 209 pounds) turned pro in 2022-23. He struggled his first year, appearing in just three games (5.57 GAA, .783 save percentage) with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL, and spending most of the season with the ECHL's Toledo Walleye (2.56 GAA, .913 save percentage in 46 games). He showed significant growth this season, emerging as the starter with the Griffins and posting a 2.41 GAA and .913 save percentage in 40 games. He's 4-1 in the playoffs, with a 2.70 GAA and .890 save percentage.
As well as he has performed, the 21-year-old Cossa only has one full year of AHL play on his resume. The Wings have Alex Lyon and Ville Husso under contract through next season, but may well look to carry three goaltenders again given Husso has been dealing with a nagging lower-body injury that sidelined him the latter two-thirds of the season. Cossa would certainly be easier to carry than possibly re-signing James Reimer, because the Wings can send Cossa back and forth to the minors without waivers. Yo-yoing a prospect, however, is something Yzerman has said he's adamantly against, because it's not beneficial to a young player's development.
At his season's-end review, Yzerman addressed Cossa's readiness for the NHL.
"I’m guessing, really," Yzerman said. "And I don’t want to underestimate him or treat him disrespectfully or put undue expectation on him. But he’s earning more starts, he’s playing more games, he’s stopping more pucks, and that’s positive.
"We’re hoping that team has a successful, long playoff run and he continues to go and play well and if he does get the net and run with it, that puts him closer to the NHL. But right now, I still think he needs time. He’s doing really well and working at his craft, he’s getting better, and he’s still got work to do. But I’m very encouraged by his attitude and his performance."
Yzerman hasn't rushed any of his top prospects for the sake of the rebuild, and he's especially not going to do that with a goaltender, who plays the position most vulnerable to the spotlight. Cossa is in a good place with the Griffins, and given that Husso's contract is up after next season, maybe it works out perfectly that Cossa is ready to join the Wings for the 2025-26 season.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.
Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Where Sebastian Cossa fits in Detroit Red Wings' plans in 2024-25
