The Athletic’s Max Bultman filed an article this morning discussing the expectations placed upon the Red Wings’ eight World Junior Championship-participating prospects–Jan Bednar (Czechia), Red Savage and Carter Mazur (USA), Sebastian Cossa and Donovan Sebrango (Canada), Eemil Viro (Finland) and Simon Edvinsson and Theodor Niederbach (Sweden):
Of course, having the most talent in the tournament does not guarantee anything. Especially in a single-elimination tournament, a team is only as good as its goaltender when it counts. And for Canada, there’s a very real chance that goaltender will be Detroit’s other 2021 first-round pick, Sebastian Cossa. Cossa will have to earn the net over Dylan Garand and Brett Brochu first, but if he does, it’s going to be a big opportunity for the Red Wings’ goalie of the future.
Where to set expectations for Cossa is a trick question. Panthers first-round pick Spencer Knight was 2-2 with a .913 save percentage in his draft-plus-one tournament. Predators first-rounder Yaroslav Askarov went 3-3 with a .914. Those seem like the most relevant comps, but both were 18 at the time of those tournaments, whereas Cossa is 19 — meaning despite this being his first World Juniors, it’s also his last. Asking Cossa to be as good as Knight was in his dominant 2021 tournament (when he had a .940 save percentage in six games) would be unfair. But if he’s Canada’s starter, the pressure will nonetheless be real to help the tournament’s best team get the job done.
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