The Detroit Red Wings made it very clear during the summer development camp that a spot on the Red Wings, Grand Rapids Griffins’ or Toledo Walleye’s roster is not guaranteed for top prospect and Edmonton Oil Kings netminder Sebastian Cossa.
With Victor Brattstrom, Jonathan Lethemon and Jussi Olkinuora already signed to two-way contracts, the Red Wings have more than enough goaltenders to take care of their goaltending situation at the AHL and ECHL levels.
Interestingly, however, Cossa’s WHL team in Edmonton is preparing as if Cossa won’t return, as the Edmonton Sun’s Derek Van Diest reports:
How well the Oil Kings do in a rebuilding year may depend on the play of goaltender Colby Hay, who is taking over as the No. 1 from Cossa. Hay, 18, filled in admirably in a backup role last season, and will begin the season as the starter.
“It’s going to be a big job, he’s got big shoes to fill, but that’s why we played Kolby in 25 games last season,” [Oil Kings general manager Kirt] Hill said. “We knew that we weren’t going to have Sebastian back and between Kolby and Alex Worthington, 17, we really like our tandem of young goaltending.
“Kolby’s starts might be a little different in the sense he might be seeing a little bit more action at times, but I thought he matured a lot through last season and now we’ll see how he response to being the No. 1 guy.”
Continued; I’m assuming that, should Cossa be assigned to Edmonton by the Red Wings, they’ll readjust their plans.
