The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler posted a list of his top 50 drafted prospects yesterday, with the caveat being that his list consisted of “skaters.” Today, Wheeler shares his top 10 drafted goaltenders, and two of them are Red Wings prospects:
5. Sebastian Cossa, G, 20 (Detroit Red Wings — No. 15, 2021)
Cossa is a huge (6-foot-6), powerful, athletic goalie, and those last two things don’t always come with the first. He’s a fiery, confident, talkative competitor who doesn’t like to get beat (which contrasts with the stoic demeanour we see in many goalies) and wants to command the net and the room. Bigger goalies often struggle with their movements and their recoveries, but neither is an issue for Cossa. His positioning (he does a really good job holding his outside edges to be patient on shots) and reflexes (he’s got great hands up high) help him block and grab a lot of pucks. But it’s his ability to bounce back into his stance or change directions with passes that separates him. His power through his pushes gives him rare side-to-side ability for a goalie that big as well.
But there are also some question marks. Some of them are contextual, like how good the Oil Kings were in front of him for three years, and some of the leaks his game has displayed while playing behind teams with less structure in front of him (including in Hockey Canada camps and then last year in spurts in the ECHL, a league that’s notoriously hard on goalies — although he did find his groove). But other questions are about the tools, including some of the trouble he faces closing his five-hole because of his size (this is a major recurring issue, even though he does a really good job kicking pucks aimed for the lower corners) and the way he can occasionally lose himself in his net on scramble plays (those strong pushes to get to tough lateral saves can pull him off his lines). He can get pulled out of his net over-committing on dekes, too.
His natural gifts give him undeniable upside, though. When he’s set and square to shots, he’s tough to beat. I’ve seen him look unflappable and make point-blank save after point-blank save when he’s dialed in. I’ve also seen him look rattled as shots sneak through holes they shouldn’t be finding. I still think he’s got starter upside due to his combination of size, dexterity and explosiveness in the net, but he’s got work to do, and patience will be imperative.
6. Trey Augustine, G, 18 (Detroit Red Wings — No. 41, 2023)
The definition of calm, cool, and collected, Augustine is the best goalie prospect to come through the national program since Knight. I like him more now than I liked Blackhawks goalie prospect Drew Commesso at the same age, for example.
He’s just dialed in, by all accounts just as much off the ice in the way he carries himself and goes about his business as on the ice, where his game has rare detail for a netminder his age. He’s got a good glove hand. He’s good moving on his knees/in a crouch. He’s good at tracking pucks through traffic and across ice on seam plays. He plays good, sharp angles. His rebound control steering pucks into the corners is good. He’s good at getting down into his butterfly to close his five-hole quickly. He’s just a good goalie. And while he’s not big for a goalie and I’m not 100 percent certain he’s the best of a strong 2023 draft class in net even though he’s ranked that way for me, he’s the one I’d feel most comfortable with starting a game for my team tomorrow.
Continued (paywall);
Jesper Wallstedt is Wheeler’s #1 prospect, and at this point, I can only shrug my shoulders at the Wings’ decision to draft Cossa over Wallstedt, and suggest that Detroit picked Cossa two years ago because Cossa still has a lot of raw talent that needs to be refined.
His developmental trajectory will take longer than Wallstedt’s, but it’s still entirely possible that Cossa becomes the “next big thing” in goal in two or three seasons.
As for Augustine, he’s only 6 feet tall, which isn’t gigantic by today’s goaltending standards, but he’s solid in every aspect of his game, and he’s probably the safest bet that the Red Wings have made this side of Nate Danielson in terms of guaranteeing that he’s going to turn pro at some point because he’s just so damn strong in everything he does.
