The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler follows up his Top 100 drafted skater prospects list with a list of the Top 20 NHL goalie prospects this morning.
Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine finishes 3rd–with Montreal’s Jacob Fowler and San Jose’s Joshua Ravensbergen ahead of the Wings’ Michigan State University product—and Michal Postava finishes 18th:
Trey Augustine
Height: 6′ 1″
Weight: 194 Ibs
DOB: Feb. 23, 2005
One of my favorite prospects in hockey, Augustine is the definition of calm, cool and collected, and, for me, the best goalie prospect to come through the national program since Spencer Knight. He was a big reason for Michigan State’s revival as a top program, finishing this season as a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker and winning the Big Ten’s goalie of the year award. And while he started his pro career 0-2-0 with a .878 save percentage in his first two AHL games, I watched both and felt he looked fine. The trade of Sebastian Cossa and the pending graduation of Michal Postava have opened the door for him to get a real run with Grand Rapids next year.
His game has rare detail and intellect for a netminder his age. He’s good at moving on his knees and 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 has good control generally. He’s as good in the lower third as any goalie his age, kicking pucks into the corner instead of out into the slot and sticking with dekes and five-hole plays. His athleticism is there when he needs it. He’s stoic.
While he’s not big for a goalie, and he can occasionally get frozen glove side or drop pucks into his glove, I have a ton of confidence projecting him to have a long NHL career. He doesn’t have obvious starter talent or size, but I could see him getting there or, at the very least, becoming a solid, reliable tandem goalie.
Continued (paywall); the player right behind Augustine is one Sebastian Cossa…
And Postava earns a shorter profile:
Michal Postava
Height: 6′ 2″
Weight: 205 Ibs
DOB: Feb 22, 2002
One of the best stories in the AHL last year, Postava came over to North America as a 23-year-old free agent who turned 24 during the season and emerged as Grand Rapids’ starter ahead of an AHL All-Star and first-round pick in Sebastian Cossa, posting a .937 in the regular season and .912 in the playoffs. The Griffins’ goalies have typically all posted strong numbers over the last couple of years, but Postava’s merits as a future No. 2 are earned. He’s not the biggest or most athletic goalie, but both are good, and his game is led by excellent technical ability, control, reflexes, positioning and tracking, which allow him to get and stay square on a lot of shots and make the saves he’s supposed to. Sharp angles and consistency define him. And if nothing else, his emergence as a legit option for the Red Wings net bought them the ability to leverage Cossa for a first-round pick and to give Trey Augustine all the time he needs in the AHL.
