The Athletic’s Max Bultman weighs in on the World Junior Championship performances of the 9 Red Wings prospects who took part in the WJC:
Donovan Sebrango: He may have been overshadowed a bit by the production of his defense partner — Anaheim prospect Olen Zellwegger was arguably the tournament’s top defenseman — but I liked what I saw from Sebrango at this tournament. Playing on Canada’s top pair, he looked like a player who spent the last two years competing against men and was the defensive stalwart of the pairing with Zellwegger. I liked his first pass, and he’s fearless going into battles along the boards. Sebrango’s arrow keeps trending up.
Sebastian Cossa: Cossa played only one game in the tournament for the eventual champs, giving up a pair of goals to an upstart Latvia team that advanced out of pool play. After he appeared to be the third-string netminder in the winter, though, Cossa being Canada’s back-up for the rest of the tournament was no surprise. It’s just hard to take much away from the one game.
Of course, while starter Dylan Garand was good for Canada, the fact Cossa was relegated largely to the bench while fellow top 2021 netminder Jesper Wallstedt was the tournament’s top goaltender has to sting a bit for the Red Wings. Detroit traded up to pick Cossa over Wallstedt last summer, and while there’s plenty of room for both to develop into quality NHL netminders, Wallstedt is clearly off to the better individual start post-draft.
The two don’t need to be compared against one another forever — nor should they be — but right now, it’s fair to be left wanting a bit more out of Cossa.
Eemil Viro: I saw fewer of Finland’s games than most of the others here, so apologies for a lighter report on Viro. When I did see him, he was largely the same profile I’ve seen in the past: a defense-first defender with good mobility and a solid first pass, playing a second-pair role. He had an assist and was +1 for the tournament on a Finnish team that was inches from upsetting Canada for the gold, and his assist came in that gold medal game.
He’s got a solid foundation to become a depth defenseman, and we’ll now see if he can pop a bit more as he begins his North American pro career in Grand Rapids.
