Talbot and Mrazek Aren’t Blocking Cossa Path to Red Wings

General manager Steve Yzerman’s decision to acquire Petr Mrazek for this season and next doesn’t really change Grand Rapids Griffins goalie Sebastian Cossa’s path to the Detroit Red Wings.

The plan was never to pencil in Cossa for next season.

“I’d rather take a conservative approach. And, if the season ends so strongly for Sebastian in GR and he has a good off season,” Yzerman said, “and a good preseason and simply forces his way in that would be a great thing.”

The Alberta native will still be 22 when the 2025-26 season begins. How many 22-year-old goalies do you see in the NHL this season?

The American Hockey League apprenticeship for goalies is usually longer than for forwards and defenseman. San Jose’s Yaroslav Askarov is 22, and he’s a premium prospect. However, he has played more games than in the AHL than the NHL this season. He turns 23 in June.

“For the most part, I think Sebastian’s had a really good year,” Yzerman said. “He continues to improve. Before, like I kind of fully assess him, or make my determination on where he’s at in his career, we’ve got a stretch run here and hopefully a good playoff run and I’ll kind of make my final evaluation when the season is over.”

Cossa Playing Solidly In GR

Cossa is 17-10-5 with a 2.36 GAA, and a .914 save percentage. He’s played 56.1% of the Griffins’ games this season.

In explaining the decision to have another veteran goalie under contract for next season, Yzerman was concerned about his options for next season.

“Looking at the market for next year, we felt not only does Petr help us short term for the remainder of this year, it gives us some solidity for going into next year,” Yzerman said.

After the Mrazek acquisition, the Red Wings still only have $6.75 million. tied up in goaltending. That’s on the low end of what teams pay for goaltending.

Red Wings Want Flexibility

“If we want to do something different, I don’t think what we’ve done here precludes us from doing that,” Yzerman said. “If we think there’s something that is a real upgrade that makes sense, whether again and trade or whatnot, we’ll do that.”

The best guess for Cossa for next season has always been that he would start again in Grand Rapids. The difference between this season and next season would be that there would be a greater chance of a call-up next season than this season.

Even if he starts in Grand Rapids, it doesn’t mean Cossa couldn’t end up permanently on the Detroit roster.

Yzerman has always said that if a prospect proves he belongs in the NHL, it’s up to him to figure out how to find a spot for him. If Cossa has a strong postseason for the Griffins, and follows that up with a quality training camp next fall, Yzerman wins.