Michal Postava gets another shot with the Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings goaltending pipeline with Michal Postava versus Sebastian Cossa is a tale of two propsects. In a way, it's kind of like modern relationships.

Sometimes, from the outside, everything looks promising. They get to know each other, spend time together and checkmark big milestones. Next thing we know, though, four years have passed. They’re still not living together - let alone engaged - and tires are spinning in the mud. Eventually, they go their separate ways. It comes as a bit of a surprise when one (or both) get engaged in less than a year.

Cossa and the Red Wings were in the exact situation mentioned above. Thankfully, he’s finding playing time with the Utah Mammoth. Postava, on the other hand, is turning heads in Detroit and the NHL.

To Grand Rapids Griffins fans, Postava’s success isn’t surprising. They've seen plenty of incredible moments from Moritz Seider taking a face off in overtime to Michael Brandsegg-Nygård cosplaying as a freight train in the playoffs, it’s a privilege to see the future of Detroit every night.

Last night, John Gibson went down with an injury against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Today, the Griffins called up Carter Gylander from the Toledo Walleye, a netminder that came up, coincidentally, the last time Postava saw his way to the NHL.

It looks like Postava has another opportunity on his hands.

Postava gets another shot at NHL ice time

Whether in the NHL or AHL, Postava hasn't missed a beat. He capped off a fantastic October with an AHL Goaltender of the Month award this week:

During Sunday’s game against the Chicago Wolves, the voice of the Griffins, Bob Kaser, emphasized an interesting fact. 

Postava was attempting to lower his stingy goals against average (GAA). Kaser was laughing as the number was so low already that goaltenders don’t typically work on lowering it. Postava’s GAA sits at 1.20 as of November 4. Coupled with his AHL-leading save percentage (SV%), of 0.955, the Czech netminder is making history. 

Hockey writer, Vojtěch Tůma shared a neat thread on Twitter. Before we touch on the remarkable observation further in the thread Tůma mentions that the numbers are calculated for goalkeepers with a minimum of ten games.

With the translation option for Twitter, it reads:

“Michal Postava has the highest save percentage of all goaltenders in AHL history...The kid has nothing left to do in the AHL…This is the Detroit Red Wings’ number one!”

Some might say that coining Postava as the number one goalie in Detroit is putting the cart before the horse. (I’m an expert in this field of study, myself.)

However, Postava has proven that he can be a consistent, reliable goaltender.

Why Postava should be the starter moving forward

Concerns about his durability would be fair. In his entire hockey career, per Elite Prospects, Postava’s highest number of regular season games played is 44 in the 2023-24 season in the second league in Czechia (plus six postseason games). For what it’s worth, Postava’s statistical output didn’t take a hit with so many games, nor did his performance the season following where he played in another 42 regular season and 17 playoff games. 

There is a fine tightrope to walk here. Throwing Postava into regular NHL action may be a lot to ask. In an ideal world, Gibson would be fully healthy and in midseason form. With this season, though, adversity appears the norm, and the Wings may not have much of a choice. If Gibson’s hurt, especially with the crazy schedule they have over the next couple of weeks, there may not be a way to delay Postava’s return to the NHL. 

The other options in Grand Rapids are Trey Augustine, who is in his first full professional season nad needs to keep developing, and Carter Gylander. Gylander has more professional experience than Augustine and is a promising goalie in his own right. However, he is still splitting time between the Griffins and Toledo Walleye of the ECHL.

Postava is really the only real option. 

This is a scenario that Steve Yzerman avoided at all costs when he was tasked with developing Cossa. There was always a veteran goalie to split duties in Grand Rapids. That veteran goalie would be the first call up, as well, if any goalie was needed for the Red Wings. It was nearly an impenetrable wall for Cossa to break free. 

Whether by design, or because so many other lovely situations hit the fan this offseason, Postava is considered the veteran in the Red Wings pipeline. It’s ironic. As our Octopus Thrower colleague Devin Little points out, around this time last year Postava was just dipping his toes in the AHL. Now, he might be splitting time with Danil Tarasov (who has had a great start to his tenure in the Winged Wheel).

For better or worse, the Detroit Red Wings are still putting the pen to paper. If Postava has any hand in the matter, there might be light on the horizon in Hockeytown. 

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