Detroit Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine (41st overall, 2023) rewarded USA Hockey's faith in him with a dominant 38-save performance in USA's 4-1 win against Canada at the World Junior Championships.
Augustine, a sophomore at Michigan State, now has 10 wins over three WJC tournaments, tying him with Grand Rapids Griffins goalie Jack Campbell for most WJC wins by an American goalie. If he plays for USA Thursday against Switzerland, he can break the U.S. mark.
Augustine has won bronze (2023) and gold (2024) in the World Juniors and is seeking to join Yevgeni Belosheikin (URS), Marc Denis (CAN), Andrei Medvedev(RUS), Jamie Storr (CAN) and Alexander Tyzhnyh (URS) as the only netminders in WJC history to win three medals in the tournament.
“I liked our emotion and how we played for each other,” said David Carle (Anchorage, Alaska/University of Denver), head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. “Trey was excellent in goal and our special teams did a great job. We’ll enjoy this tonight and get set for our quarterfinal game against Switzerland.”.
Augustine came into the game with a not-too-pretty 3.94 goals-against average in his first two games of this tournament, but USA coaches trusted him because he led the team to the gold medal at WJC a year ago. The Americans are trying to win back-to-back WJC titles for the first time in tournament history.
The U.S. triumph gives the team the top seed in pool play. The Americans awill play Switzerland in the quarterfinal round on Thursday.
The Red Wings drafted Augustine in the second round in the 2023 draft, and they view him among their top prospects. He hasn't given any indication of when he will turn professional, but it is plausible that he would sign with Detroit after his college season.
With the NHL now moving toward a more even split of goalie starts, the Red Wings could be thinking of a future with both Sebastian Cossa and Augustine both on their roster.
This is Cossa's third professional season, and South Lyon native Augustine likely will follow a similar plan. The Red Wings also have former Colgate goalie Carter Gylander in their minor league system. They also like his potential.
The win against Canada dropped his GAA to 2.97 and improved his save percentage to .914.