If goaltending is king in the American Hockey League, the Grand Rapids Griffins could end up as royalty in this NHL affiliate league.
Not only do the Griffins have one of the best young goaltenders in Sebastian Cossa, they currently boast NHL veterans Ville Husso and Jack Campbell who boast a total of 310 NHL games played. They own a combined 162 wins in the show.
Campbell hasn’t played yet because he just joined the team after spending time in the NHL/NHLPA Players Assistance program.
But Husso has played four games and is 3-0 with a 1.46 GAA and .952 save percentage. The Red Wings sent him to the AHL last month because they liked the Cam Talbot-Alex Lyon tandem.
If the Red Wings had sent down Lyon, he likely would have been claimed because of his affordable $900,000 salary. Husso’s $4.75 million cap hit made it highly unlikely he would be claimed.
But regardless of how well Husso and Campbell play, the Red Wings want to see Cossa in the goal. He’s their goalie of the future. He’s off to a strong start, boasting a 7-3-1 record with a 1.89 goals-against average and .937 save percentage.
Grand Rapids coach Dan Watson said he wouldn’t “be shocked” to see Cossa play in the range of 50 games.
“He’s going to get the bulk of the workload this season. ” Watson said. “We’re going to give him some more challenging starts.”
The Red Wings also respected goalie prospect Carter Gylander with the Toledo Walleye. He has also played a game for the Griffins.
With Yaroslav Askarov now in San Jose, Cossa and Iowa Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt were probably the top prospect goalies until the Sabres demoted Devon Levi. Wallstedt is off to a rough start (4.26 GAA, .864 save percentage).
At 22, Levi is the same age as Cossa and Wallstedt. Pittsburgh prospect Joel Bloomqvist is also challenging to be in that group.