The Detroit Red Wings are facing something of a goalie problem. More specifically, they have a logjam starting in Grand Rapids.
The Griffins, off to their best season in team (and league) history have been backstopped by a trio of goalies that have led to a record of 25-1-0-1. They’ve lost once in regulation, and once in the shootout.
Led by Sebastian Cossa, the Red Wings 2021 first round pick, he, Carter Gylander, and earlier in the season, Michal Postava, have been crucial in keeping Grand Rapids historic run going.
Cossa has only suffered one loss in his 15 starts in net, with a .936 save percentage and 1.36 GAA, sitting behind only Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Sergei Murashov in the AHL in those categories. He also has played two more games than Murashov.
In any case, Cossa is making a real case that he has outgrown the AHL and may be ready for some looks with the main club this year, especially if Cam Talbot doesn’t regain his usual form.
To begin the season, the Red Wings had signed Michal Postava out of the Czech Leagues off of a season where he led his team to a Czechia Championship title. Postava posted solid numbers in four starts, going undefeated with a 2.15 GAA and .936 save percentage before being injured in his fifth game.
Enter Carter Gylander, who has been holding down the fort
That game was Carter Gylander’s first AHL start of the season. The former Colgate University goalie was drafted by the Red Wings in the seventh round in 2019. After finishing his collegiate career Gylander briefly joined the Griffins for three games, but struggled to adjust to the AHL’s speed.
The Red Wings assigned Gylander to their ECHL affiliate, the Toledo Walleye, and Gylander backstopped the Toledo Walleye to just short of an ECHL championship title. Gylander started the season with the Walleye, but was called up when Cossa was injured in November for a moment.
Gylander was thrown in when Postava was injured in the first period of the Griffins Nov. 9 game against the Rockford IceHogs, taking them all the way to the shootout. That, unfortunately, was the Griffins’ only shootout loss.
Gylander was briefly reassigned to the ECHL, but has been backing up Cossa since Dec. 11. He hasn’t lost a game since that initial debut, and has a 2.17 GAA and .925 save percentage in seven games.
Now, according to some reports and Griffins Head Coach Dan Watson, Postava has started skating again, and even joined the team for their most recent road trip. Even if Gylander wasn’t playing at the level he currently is, a new wrinkle has been added: The ECHL’s players are going on strike.
That leaves Gylander, the call-up, in a murky situation with the NHL and AHL in their Christmas breaks while continuing play between his performance so far and the fact that he’s stuck with this organization for over half a decade, the 24-year-old Gylander deserves an extended look, especially with this level of play.
Grand Rapids is already rotating the forward and defensive rotation due to AHL rules regarding veterans, and while having too many good goalies doesn’t seem like a problem, most of the people who play the position will tell you a lot of goaltending is staying in a rhythm. Now, the Red Wings are presented with a problem.
The Griffins are riding a 14-game winning streak behind Cossa and Gylander, do they potentially disturb the rhythm those two have established in the past month by working Postava back in?
Do they do themselves, and Postava a disservice by not letting him prove he can continue the good play he had and not disrupt the other two? Do they even keep three goalies on the team? If not, where will the third goalie go?
Some of these questions are outside of the organization’s power at the moment, but they do need to decide on some of those answers soon, before the roster gets even more crowded with Amadeus Lombardi and Shai Buium hopefully returning to the lineup soon.