The Detroit Red Wings haven't been able to find a stalwart in goal since Jimmy Howard's skill set began to diminish. Although Howard failed to lead the Detroit Red Wings to the promised land as Mike Vernon, Chris Osgood, and Dominik Hasek did, he did provide the organization with a steady top option between the pipes for years.
Since Howard called it a career, the Detroit Red Wings haven't been able to find a long-term option. Following Howard's retirement in 2020, Detroit has experimented with a variety of options, including Jonathan Bernier, Thomas Greiss, Alex Nedeljkovic, Ville Husso, Petr Mrazek, Alex Lyon, Cam Talbot, and John Gibson. It's a long list of placeholders; maybe it's time to consider the top prospect, Sebastian Cossa.
The Detroit Red Wings used the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Level Draft on the 6-foot-6 phenom. In fact, Detroit moved up in the first round after selecting defenseman Simon Edvinsson with the sixth-overall choice to select Sebastian Cossa at 15.
Many expected that general manager Steve Yzerman's draft target was Jesper Wallstedt, who fell to the Minnesota Wild at pick number 20. Speaking of Wallsteadt, 23, he just recorded his fourth shutout over his last six starts on the heels of his November rookie of the month award.
Should the Detroit Red Wings recall Sebastian Cossa or continue to play it safe?
When it comes to Cossa, 23, his development is crucial, and the transition from Grand Rapids to Detroit is difficult. Cossa has shown steady improvement with the Grifins and was just named the AHL Player of the Week. He's posted a stellar 1.56 goals against average to pair with a 0.942 save percentage with an 8-1-0-0 record to date.
I understand both arguments regarding Cossa: whether to call him up to Detroit amid John Gibson's struggles or to allow him to continue to thrive in Grand Rapids. The call-up would be rewarding their top goaltending prospect for a stellar start to the year, and possibly spark the Red Wings, who've been reeling of late. Gaining some NHL experience could, in fact, accelerate his growth and confidence.
The risk of a recall is stunting his growth and confidence if he were to get shelled at the NHL level playing behind a less-than-ideal group of defenders. That said, how can we really bash a veteran like Gibson for his lack of play?
I understand Detroit expected more from Gibson, but if he's under siege night after night, so much so that Detroit is reluctant to call up a player like Cossa despite his stellar play in Grand Rapids, it suggests that Detroit's current goaltending woes are a shared issue between poor performance in goal and the group of skaters collectively. And that is solely on Steve Yzerman at this point.