Did the Red Wings make the right choice in trading Cossa?
Among the exciting occurrences that took place on Night 1 of the 2026 NHL Draft was the Detroit Red Wings‘ trade of goaltending prospect Sebastian Cossa to the Utah Mammoth in exchange for a first-round pick.
The Red Wings ended up using the No. 23 pick to select forward J.P. Hurlbert from the Kamloops Blazers, a solid prospect in his own right.
However, as it pertains to Cossa, did the Red Wings make the right call?
Back in 2021, there was a lot of chatter about the two goaltenders heading into the NHL Draft – Cossa and Jesper Wallstedt. The Red Wings held the No. 15 in the first round, electing to take Cossa. Walltstedt went five picks later to the Minnesota Wild. As a high pick, Cossa faced high expectations to succeed and potentially lead Detroit for years to come.
In the end, he never really got the chance.
After a solid rookie season with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, the Hamilton, Ont. native established himself as the No. 1 goaltender with the Red Wings’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. An exceptional finish to the 2023-24 season and a strong start to the 2024-25 campaign led many to believe he was ready to take the next step sooner rather than later. He even got his first taste in the NHL in December 2024, earning a shootout win in a relief effort against the Buffalo Sabres.
That was, and still is, Cossa’s lone NHL appearance.
There are a number of factors that have certainly held Cossa back. Prior to the 2025-26 season, the Red Wings had three more experienced goaltenders ahead of him on the depth chart. Last year, general manager Steve Yzerman traded for John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks. Cossa was only the No. 3 netminder heading into this past season, with many expecting him to get an honest shot if/when one of Talbot or Gibson got hurt. It never happened.
The other big problem that has plagued Cossa has been his inconsistency. This past year, Cossa had an exceptional start, even helping the Griffins with an incredible first half in 2025-26. Yet, his play tapered off after each of his last two NHL call-ups. This past spring, he lost the starting job to Michal Postava heading into the Calder Cup Playoffs. Cossa finished the year with career-best numbers – a 26-8-4 record, with a 2.33 goals-against average, a .915 save percentage and five shutouts. Yet, it wasn’t enough.
Detroit assistant GM and Griffins GM Shawn Horcoff told Daily Faceoff that there was a belief the Cossa would’ve received some action in the playoffs had Grand Rapids not been eliminated in the division finals. Things just didn’t pan out.
“We had a problem there that every team would want to have,” Horcoff said. “We had two fantastic goalies, two of the better goalies in the league for the entire season. Our philosophy is, if you play well, you’re going to get the opportunity; that’s every position. I just think Postava down the stretch just played so good for us…he earned the start, and he just didn’t let go of it.”
The back-to-back concerning finishes quickly catapulted Cossa’s name back into trade rumors, despite the Wings having one open roster spot between the pipes behind Gibson, who has one more year on his current contract.
Cossa is no longer waiver-exempt. If he were to be put on waivers, Cossa could be lost for nothing – and almost certainly would be. Detroit already dealt with a similar situation leading up to the draft, sending prospect Amadeus Lombardi to the New Jersey Devils.
So, did the Red Wings make the right choice in pushing Cossa out? It doesn’t seem that way. Cossa has shown he can be a big-time goaltender in the AHL, but he never received an honest shot with the Wings.
Goaltenders like Cayden Primeau, Connor Ingram and Brandon Bussi were all put on waivers ahead of the 2025-26 regular season. Primeau and Bussi were both picked up by different teams, with Bussi going on to win a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes. Surely, if Cossa wasn’t going to be the answer, the Red Wings could claim a goaltender off waivers to fill the hole behind Gibson for the short-term. Clearly, the Red Wings weren’t willing to take the risk, despite lacking a contingency plan heading into draft weekend.
The immediate reaction to Cossa being sent to Salt Lake City is that the Red Wings have Trey Augustine in the pipeline, signing with the team shortly after his junior season at Michigan State wrapped up this past spring. While Augustine certainly has the foundation to be an NHL goaltender (just like Cossa), the Red Wings seemingly pushed themselves back to where they were with Cossa in 2022. There’s going to be a couple of years of development before Augustine is remotely ready to play in the NHL, let alone be the No. 1 guy in Detroit.
Some have floated the idea that Postava could step into the NHL next year. We’ll see if the Wings are truly confident in that approach soon.
The Red Wings wasted years of time and resources on developing Cossa into an NHL-caliber netminder. While there’s optimism in the prospect pool between the pipes, fans in Hockeytown are going to have to wait another few years before that banana is no longer green, and hope that he receives the opportunity Cossa never did.
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