This morning, the Detroit Red Wings called up AHL star goaltender Sebastian Cossa from the Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions. Starting netminder John Gibson suffered a "stinger" in Monday's game against the Nashville Predators and likely will not play in tonight's game. In addition, the Red Wings reassigned defenseman Erik Gustafsson to the Griffins.
Cossa is having an outstanding season with the Griffins, sporting a 24-4-3 record, a .927 save percentage and a 1.99 goals against average. At 23 years of age, Cossa has yet to secure the starter's role. On the surface, this emergency call-up serves two purposes: it allows Cossa to fill in for Gibson, and it gives Cossa a chance to show what he can do at the NHL level. The timing of this move, though, is the most intriguing part of it.
There's a very strong chance Steve Yzerman could be showcasing Cossa before the trade deadline.
Cossa's opportunity with the Red Wings
As stated earlier, Cossa is 23 years old. If he's going to become a full-time NHL starter, he needs to play full-time NHL minutes. This could be his chance to supplant Cam Talbot as the team's backup. If he can't steal the role, then the team knows his NHL readiness. If he can, however, he'll have earned a long-term fit in Detroit. It's unclear how long Gibson will be out of commission, though many speculate the team is resting him to avoid aggravating his injury.
Cossa is a two-time AHL player of the month. He represented the Griffins in the AHL All-Star Game, has two exceptional seasons of AHL goaltending under his belt, and has been more than ready to take on an NHL workload for months. The Red Wings have a reputation of of over-ripening prospects. Patience is the name of the game in Detroit, and Yzerman's rebuilding philosophy is more than indicative of this. With that in mind, however, could keeping Cossa in the AHL be a bad thing? One way or another, the towering goaltender will need to learn the pace of the NHL. How can he do that with another season with the Griffins?
Why the Red Wings may want to showcase Cossa
On the other hand, if Cossa can't take the backup role from a 38 year old Cam Talbot, will he ever be ready to don the Winged Wheel? It's hard to say. After all, the Red Wings have another extremely promising goaltending prospect in the pipeline. If the organization believes Trey Augustine is the answer over Cossa, they may elect to move on from him before the trade deadline.
The Red Wings have their hands in nearly every trade rumor in the NHL. From Vincent Trocheck to MacKenzie Weegar, where there's a chance for a big move, Detroit is there. This is Yzerman's opportunity to secure a key difference-maker for the roster. One such name floated around is Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues. Thomas would be an ideal fit for Detroit's second line, helping Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat soar to the heights they achieved with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Having said that, Thomas won't come cheap. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic revealed that St. Louis is asking for the equivalent of four first-round talents. Cossa is one of several the Red Wings could package in a deal for a player of Thomas's caliber.
Red Wings fans will know the answer to their questions in just two short days when the NHL Trade Deadline comes to an end at 3:00 p.m. EST on Friday, March 6th.