Sebastian Cossa cleaned out his Grand Rapids locker on Tuesday, the somber final note of a playoff run ended. The Griffins lost to Milwaukee in Game 5 of a five-game Central Division Final on Sunday, concluding Cossa's rookie season in the AHL.
But what marked an ending also came with a new beginning: a brand new set of goalie pads, their white leather still unscathed by the rubber of a save.
“The next time you see those pads, there’s gonna be a lot of pucks on them,” Cossa told Griffins broadcaster Bob Kaser.
First comes some rest, well deserved after playing 49 games this season through the regular season and playoffs. Then comes an offseason in the gym and on the ice, putting those new pads to good use and making good on his promise. And after that? Well, that’s still up in the air.
Drafted 15th overall in 2021, Cossa has spent the past three seasons steadily progressing toward becoming the starting goaltender he’s been projected since before his draft year. Linearly progressing from the WHL to the ECHL to the AHL over the past three seasons, Cossa is now aiming for his biggest leap yet: the NHL.
At least, that's the intention.
Cossa's potential path to the NHL will take a strong training camp just to have a chance at making the Detroit roster, the kind of performance that would convince general manager Steve Yzerman to make some roster moves and clear space for him. Given how Yzerman would rather have prospects ripen until they’re falling off the vine rather than put them in a position to fail forward before they're ready, Cossa would have to do something pretty remarkable to do that.
To be fair, the goaltending position is already one whose prospects are often brought along at a snail's pace. It's a fickle position to develop given how it’s the last line of defense for the 18 skaters in front of it. Every save can be brilliant. Every mistake can be monumental. Everything can hinge on a goaltender's success, especially in tight NHL games.
That doesn’t mean Cossa isn’t trying to get there faster.
“Obviously that’s the goal: you want to play at the highest level possible that you can,” Cossa said. “There’s still a lot of work ahead of me and I’m excited for that, honestly. You obviously want to play at the highest level you can, but knowing my position, I’m not gonna be angry with wherever I am next year and just continuing to look to develop and win a lot of hockey games next year.”
There’s a lot of unknown to be read between the lines of Cossa’s statement. On the one hand, he feels ready for the challenge ahead. His rookie season in Grand Rapids — highlighted by a 19-game unbeaten streak in regulation that broke a Griffins record that stood since he was nine days old — backs up that conclusion. But on the other, Cossa wasn’t a world-beater. He had bad games, especially early on before that record-breaking streak. The playoffs where he had a 5-4 record, .900 save percentage and 2.72 goals against average also left more to be desired from where a likely NHL level goalie might have finished.
“Coming into the season with a couple tastes from the season before, I just really wanted to come in and show and prove that I can play in this league and play at a high rate,” Cossa said. “I think (there were) a lot of ups and downs, especially earlier in the season and I think I really found consistency throughout the back end of the season. We all had a really good finish there from the regular season from the guys in here. Good playoff run.”
Cossa understands the way this development business works, especially after two seasons of being in it. He hasn’t just been given anything, not even to speed up his progress toward NHL readiness. The Red Wings aren’t going to put him in position to fail, forward or otherwise.
All the way back on April 19 during his season-ending press conference, Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman fielded a question about Cossa’s progress. His answer shouldn’t surprise you.
“Well, he’s again had a very positive year. He's made a lot of progress. He's getting more starts. He's going in the right direction. I can't answer (whether he's ‘an NHL option'),” Yzerman said before sharing more about his thought process. “… Again, the coach will decide who plays in the (AHL) playoffs, but he’s progressed, and we’re really hoping for a whole host of reasons that he obviously has a successful, long playoff run, and he continues to go and play well. And if he does get the net and run with it, that puts him closer to the NHL, but right now, I still think he needs time. He's doing really well. He's working at his craft. He's getting better, and he's still got work to do. I'm very encouraged by his attitude and his performance.”
Cossa indeed got the net for the playoffs, but his performance was just alright. Is he closer to the NHL for playing in the playoffs? Yes. Is he ready for the NHL? It doesn’t seem like it right now.
That’s why September’s roster decisions aren’t made in May.
Cossa has time to develop in the offseason and work toward getting closer to an NHL role. His offseason training putting those pads to work will aim to ready him for the jump that he might have a snowball's chance to make. At the very least, his progression as a goaltender requires this development no matter when he gets to the NHL level. Every moment spent waiting wrings further anticipation from a Red Wings team that's all but depending on him to one day be its true starter. All that Cossa can do is keep progressing toward his moment of ascendance.
Detroit might need him at some point next season, with only two NHL goaltenders under contract in Alex Lyon and Ville Husso right now. The latter option is a big question mark given his struggles with two separate lower body injuries during the season, which is never a good sign for a position where acrobatics require health. As much as the Red Wings might sign some help in free agency, there's also the chance that they lean on Cossa, whose entry level contract just saw its first year burn off in 2023-24. Such a move could prevent the need to roster three goaltenders, like Detroit did last season. At the very least, it's nigh time for Cossa to show what he can do on the biggest stage. The time for Cossa to get his NHL work in is nearing. It’s just a matter of when exactly that comes.
For now, all he can do is train for his moment in training camp. And with every rep, every black mark that scuffs those fresh white pads, he’s getting closer and closer.
