I’m not the biggest fan of “What if?” articles regarding situations that haven’t happened yet.
That being said, Sports Illustrated’s Jason Fink asks whether the Red Wings made the right decision in determining that turning-pro prospect Trey Augustine’s a better bet to become Detroit’s “goalie of the future” than 24-year-old Sebastian Cossa, who will make his NHL debut with the Utah Mammoth as Karl Vejmelka’s presumed back-up this upcoming season…
And you do have to factor the future potential of one University of Michigan forward JP Hurlbert into the equation, given that the Wings essentially traded Cossa to Utah for the Hurlbert (also known as the 23rd overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft)…
So let’s play along with Fink’s equation:
Scenario A: Augustine becomes the Red Wings’ long-term starter and the trade looks brilliant.
Scenario B: Both become quality NHL goalies and the trade becomes more about what Detroit received for Cossa.
Scenario C: Cossa becomes a star while Augustine struggles, and Detroit spends years hearing about the goalie it let get away.
And because Cossa was a first-round pick Detroit traded up to acquire, Scenario C would sting considerably more.
Again, to me, it’s way too early to determine the answer to the question as to whether the Wings made the “right decision,” especially given that 24-year-old Michal Postava’s emergence as a potential NHL-caliber goalie played into the Wings’ decision to trade Cossa. Scenario “D: Postava emerges as the #1 goalie, and the equation doesn’t matter” is an entirely possible option.
However…
The Red Wings have spent years searching for its next franchise goaltender and, for a brief period, appeared to have two candidates. The Red Wings decided they didn’t need both.
Cossa now gets the opportunity to prove Detroit gave up on him too soon; meanwhile, Augustine gets the considerably heavier burden of proving the Red Wings didn’t. Detroit has made their choice.
Now comes the part that could take years to determine: whether they chose the right goalie.
Too soon. Too soon.
