Detroit Red Wings: to trade for or not to trade for Jeremy Swayman

Pipeline in net for the Detroit Red Wings

Before we dive into the possibility of trading for Swayman, I think it’s important to understand the pipeline in net for the Detroit Red Wings.

While I fancy myself an avid prospect watcher (and defender), I think it’s important to reacquaint myself with the possible future goalers in our system.

Here’s the list from likeliest to play for the Detroit Red Wings full-time to not (love all the players, and hope they all do well):

Sebastian Cossa
Trey Augustine
Carter Gylander

Jan Bednář (technically not a prospect anymore, but has the potential to remain within the organization as part of the Toledo Walleye and Grand Rapids Griffins with a long shot of playing for the Detroit Red Wings—I’m rooting for the latter for Bednář)

The Detroit Red Wings seem to have full confidence in Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine. 

Sebastian Cossa

In the 2021 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Level Draft, the Detroit Red Wings traded up to select Cossa. A highly-touted, bordering-on cocky goaltender with a sharp tongue received a dose of humble pie in his first year as a professional ice hockey player.

Instead of spending the majority of his time with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2022-2023, he spent most of his year in the ECHL, the lower division, with the Toledo Walleye. 

Although many fans and public scouts jumped off the Cossa hype train, they might have done so prematurely. 

Cossa hadn’t faced as much adversity on the ice as he did that season but seemed to have learned a lot. 

His junior hockey league team in prior seasons, the Edmonton Oil Kings, was a powerhouse during his tenure. Meanwhile, the Grand Rapids Griffins he joined were not. They weren’t good by any measure.

I fully blame the coaching staff during that season. People can argue all they want about personnel issues, but when a team boasts Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson, and Pontus Andreasson, even if it was their first year in North America (and only for Andreasson, even though he deserved a better fate), they should have played better.

When I ventured to Grand Rapids, Michigan, that season, I can’t tell you how confused players looked on the ice. I get the ice is smaller, systems are different, and those are just the adjustments needed on the ice (let alone all the cultural changes players went through). However, players seemed so lost, not knowing which way to look, where to stand, or what they should be doing. 

Even Edvinsson looked like he had forgotten how to play ice hockey. It was baffling in the worst ways imaginable. 

No goalie would be able to backstop that team well, especially a kid turning pro. 

When Cossa moved to the Toledo Walleye under Dan Watson, who at the time was the head coach of the Toledo Walleye but was promoted to the Grand Rapids Griffins for the 2023-24 season, he changed completely.  It’s interesting what a decent system and someone like Watson can do with a player.

For people who demand stats to prove a point, here is the difference in Cossa’s stats between the Grand Rapids Griffins and Toledo Walleye for the 2022-23 season per EliteProspects.com:

Games Played: 3 Goals Against Average (GAA): 5.57 Save % (SV%): .783 W-L-T: 1-1-0
Games Played: 46 GAA: 2.56 SV%: .913 W-L-T: 26-16-1 Post Season Games Played: 7 GAA: 2.32 SV%: .917 W-L-T:  5-2-0

This season, people might see Cossa as rebounding in the AHL, as he’s sported the following stat line:

Games Played: 40 GAA: 2.41 SV%: .913 W-L-T: 22-9-9 Post Season Games Played: 9 GAA: 2.72 SV%: .900 W-L-T:  5-4-0

I think it’s a reflection of his growth as an individual, the team, and an improvement on the coaching staff (both the head coach as well as the rest of it).

In this most recent regular season, Cossa performed better in the AHL but the ECHL playoff stats were slightly better.

From my viewings of the Grand Rapids Griffins, Cossa gave his team a chance to win most nights. Even on the nights that were a bit off, the skaters in front of him were as much to blame for the goals against as Cossa was—this was especially true in the playoff run. 

At points during his 2023-24 campaign, Cossa set records for the Grand Rapids Griffins:

Although Cossa hasn’t played a regular season game in the NHL, the Detroit Red Wings organization seems fully committed to Cossa. In the preseason, he hasn’t started an NHL game, but he has played full periods and partial games.

The Detroit Red Wings will take their time with Cossa, but it seems sooner than later that Cossa will make the jump to the NHL (at first to wet his whistle, then play as a regular—kind of like Edvinsson and how he was brought up).

From all my viewings of prospects in the system, I think Edvinsson, Cossa, and Axel Sandin-Pellikka have the highest ceilings. Michael Brandsegg-Nygård and Nate Danielson might all join that conversation soon, but only Edvinsson, Cossa, and Sandin-Pellikka are players that I can confidently say can reach a franchise tier at this time.

One of my favorite qualities of Cossa is the way he plays. He acts more like a fourth defender, where he anticipates play rather than reacting to the plays made before him. He’s fantastic at reading plays to reduce angles against, cutting off plays before they can become lethal within the zone, and is great at breaking the puck out of his own zone. Seriously, his passes out of the zone are better than some defensemen on both the Grand Rapids Griffins and Detroit Red Wings. 

He’s not just a goaltender but a valuable member of the defensive core.

For all the advanced plays he makes, Cossa doesn’t get caught outside of his crease too often, though there are times he gets a little too out there. His quick feet (he’s an effective skater) and athleticism help him recover. 

When he first started within the Detroit Red Wings organization, there were lots of flailing limbs, but Cossa seems much more put-together and collected. It’s very refreshing and soothing from the flopping around. He’s learned where his body parts are (for the most part) and knows where he wants them to go. For a big man, it’s important.

Rather than his size, athleticism, or reaction to play that people rave about, though, it’s his inner drive that will set him apart from his fellow goaltenders. 

Cossa wants to win as badly as any player that I have watched. He needs to win. Much like Lucas Raymond, Marco Kasper, and Dylan Larkin, Cossa wants to beat his opponent. It’s hard to articulate just how competitive Cossa is in words, but the best way to describe him is that he’s a monster. Purely and simply. 

Trey Augustine

Cossa’s contemporary in the Detroit Red Wings organization is Augustine.

Augustine has yet to play professional games, but he has played against men in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) this past summer along with current Detroit Red Wings goaltender Lyon (before he was injured) and played for Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde. 

At just 19 years of age, Augustine has made a name for himself:

NCAA Division I Games Played: 35 GAA: 2.96 SV%: .915 W-L-T: 23-9-2
IIHF Men’s World Championship Games Played: 4 GAA: 1.89 SV%: .929 W-L-T: 2-2-0
IIHF Men’s Under 20 World Championship Games Played: 4 GAA: 1.75 SV%: .936 W-L-T: 4-0-0

Augustine might not have played many games in the IIHF Men’s tournaments, but he made the most of his appearances, including a gold medal with the under 20 team.

In his play with the Michigan State Spartans, Augustine also saw success. 

Additionally, he earned an award for his play for the Michigan State Spartans:

According to the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP) website, Augustine:

"Finished second in NTDP history for best single season save percentage (.926/2022-23)"

USA Hockey NTDP website

In almost every way, Augustine is the opposite of Cossa. Cossa stands at 6’6” and Augustine at 6’1” tall. 

Where Cossa is gangly, wild, and offbeat, Augustine is compact, methodical, and reserved. Rarely does he scramble or look like he’s out of sorts.

However, there is one aspect of the game they both have a similarity—their compete. Although they demonstrate this trait differently, they both want to win badly. 

It’s a great tandem in the making for the Detroit Red Wings.

So the biggest question is: should the Detroit Red Wings wait for these players to develop? The likeliest answer is probably.

It’s not as sexy as a trade (or as for sure as having Swayman on the NHL team), but these two goaltenders look really, really good.