The Detroit Red Wings traded one of their top prospects in goaltender Sebastian Cossa to the Utah Mammoth on Friday for the 23rd pick of this year's draft.
Shortly after the trade, the Red Wings used that pick to select Kamloops Blazers winger JP Hurlbert.
Cossa, who was the 15th pick in the 2021 draft, was one of the focal points of a Red Wings farm system that is considered one of the strongest in the NHL.
What the 23-year-old did this season with the Red Wings' AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, reinforced why there was so much attention around his development. Cossa went 26-8-4 with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage.
But what made him eventually expendable was that the Red Wings had another prospect goalie in Trey Augustine. They selected him in the second round of the 2023 draft and have seen him emerge into one of the premier netminders in college hockey.
Augustine, 21, played three seasons at Michigan State. He finished 24-9-1 with a 2.11 GAA and a .929 save percentage before turning pro and playing two regular-season games with the Griffins.
Cossa now heads to the Mammoth and could be among the potential options they use to complement Karel Vejmelka.
As more teams shift to using tandems, no goaltender played more games than Vejmelka during the 2025-26 season. He went 38-20-3 with a 2.75 GAA and a .897 save percentage to help the Mammoth reach the playoffs in their second season since the franchise relocated from Arizona.
