Detroit Red Wings: Ranking the top six prospects heading into training camp

Detroit Red Wings no. 3 prospect, Sebastian Cossa, 19, goalie

Sebastian Cossa stands 6-foot-6, a big netminder that excelled this past season in junior with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

Cossa, a three-year starter for Edmonton, posted an incredible 33-9-3 record this past season, leading the Oil Kings to a Memorial Cup berth. Despite not winning the championship, Cossa performed exceptionally well.

Last season, Cossa posted a stellar 0.913% save percentage to go with a reliable 2.28 goals against average.

Josh Tessler of Smaht Scouting had this to say about Cossa’s speed and athleticism before Detroit drafted him.

"Cossa loves to show off his athleticism but dropping to all fours on the breakaway. Usually, the attacker is too far down low for him to elevate the shot at that point. Cossa sprawls out and pushes the puck out of the crease. He has proven to be rather quick when it comes to shifting out of RVH to sprawling. While he enjoys sprawling out, it takes Cossa too long to get back up to his feet and that leads to vulnerable situations for Edmonton. But, the speed and quickness that Cossa embodies is what truly wows me about his athleticism. He is quite speedy when going from left to right when facing a two on two with one attacker coming down the right side (attacker’s right side) and a second attacker who found open ice at net front. Cossa deploys quality edge work to help push him from side to side. In addition, his reaction time is quite fast when closing up the five hole and when jumping back up to standing stance from the butterfly."

Upon leaving the organization, goaltending depth is another area former Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland left depleted.

Steve Yzerman was forced to transition from Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Bernier with bleak up-and-coming options to Ville Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic, with Cossa coming in a few years.

Generally, it takes a netminder a bit longer than a skater to find their sea legs at the NHL level. Cossa is 19 years old, and it wouldn’t be out of the question if we don’t see him in Detroit as a staple until he’s 23 or 24.

It is uncertain where Cossa will play this upcoming season. In addition to adding Husso to the NHL roster, Yzerman bolstered the Griffins roster by adding a veteran netminder in Jussi Olkinuora, 31, to help mention 25-year-old Victor Brattström.

Cossa will need to impress Detroit’s brass during training camp and the upcoming prospects tournament if he hopes to unseat one of the current Griffins for a regular spot in Grand Rapids this year.