The Grand Rapids Griffins goaltender’s crease has been a revolving door over the past 3-5 years, with both North American and European goaltenders spending a season or two in GR and then moving on.
This morning, MLive’s Ansar Khan focuses on the Red Wings’ European free agent signings who’ve struggled in the goal (see: Jussi Olkinuora, Patrik Rybar, Matej Machovsky) as compared with the Wings’ newest signing, 23-year-old Michal Postava, who won the Czech Extraliga championship with Brno Kometa:
“I think it’s very realistic he can play in the AHL next year,” Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said. “I haven’t seen him do it, so that’s the only question mark. I think he had an outstanding year. One of our scouts, Petr Jaros in Europe, who lives in the Czech Republic, has watched Kometa all year and really pushed hard for him. He’s watched him climb through every league, and I think the next step for him after a really good year is to go to the American League. Time will tell, but we think he’ll be more than fine there. The only cause for caution is that he hasn’t been over here yet. But based on everything else — I watched a lot of him on video — and he played very well.”
Postava went 23-18-0 with a 2.39 GAA and .920 save percentage during the regular season, his first in Czechia’s top men’s league.
Postava told Khan that he met with Jiri Fischer before deciding to sign with the Red Wings:
Seattle and Utah were among NHL clubs reportedly pursuing Postava, who cited an hour meeting in the Czech Republic with Jiri Fischer, Red Wings associate director of player personnel, for convincing him to choose Detroit.
“Proud to be in this organization,” Postava said last week during Red Wings development camp at Little Caesars Arena. “It’s maybe because there are many Czech players before like Jiri Fischer. And Detroit is a big club, big six. So, I think it’s big opportunity for me.”
Continued (paywall); the Wings hope that Postava splits time with Sebastian Cossa this upcoming season, though it is entirely possible that the Red Wings might still sign a 3rd goaltender to shuttle between Detroit and Grand Rapids as needed.
