Aside from shoulders that tower over the crossbar, limbs that loom like a spider’s and a gaze that might have made Ken Dryden blink, the first thing that stands out upon seeing Sebastian Cossa in net are the pads: they don’t match his jersey. Because one day they will. One day, the winged wheel on the front of Cossa's helmet will be on the center of his chest.
The Toledo Walleye wear yellow and blue. Last Friday, on DC Super Hero night at their home arena, they wore Wonder Woman jerseys featuring the same colors. Cossa wears red and white, he said, because "signed goalies, I think they look at the next level."
"When I'm up there," Cossa said, "obviously you're repping those colors."
He was standing on the ground floor of the 8,000-seat Huntington Center, after another game on the ground floor of his career. He was wearing a blue Walleye bucket hat and doing his best to keep himself in the present. But he had been asked about the future and whether his mind occasionally wanders an hour north up I-75. Whether it wanders 'up there.'
"For me, it’s little steps at a time," Cossa said. "I gotta get to Grand Rapids first and dominate at that level, and then Detroit will be my next. Right now, I want to win hockey games, I want to do well with this team and next year’s focus is the Griffins and keep going like that."
Spoken like a vet, in his first year as a pro. The 20-year-old Cossa is one of the youngest players in the ECHL, the lowest level of NHL-affiliated hockey. He's also one of the brightest, the 15th overall pick of Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings in 2021. And recently he's been one of the best. He was on a 10-game tear and his team was on a franchise-record 18-game winning streak until a reporter from Detroit showed up in Toledo.
Entering last Friday, Cossa and the Walleye hadn't lost since Feb. 4. He had faced 287 shots over this span, and stopped 277 -- a save percentage of .965 to go with a goals against average of 1.00. Less than five minutes into Friday night's game against Reading, Cossa came far out of his crease to challenge a shooter on a breakaway and was beaten by a wrister under the glove. A sold-out crowd seemed to rub its eyes in disbelief. A reporter wondered if he should leave.
Cossa is 6'6, and plays to his obvious strength: "The farther out I am, the less net they have to shoot at." When he's on his angles, the net can disappear. He stopped a number of pucks Friday by simply being in the right place, at the right time. Later in the first, he made a blocker save on a shot from the circle, then a shoulder save on the rebound from the slot, without any wasted movement. He swallowed scrambles in front. He shut down a wraparound with such spindly ease in the second it conjured thoughts of trying to dunk over Manute Bol.
When Cossa's off his angles, the nets gets a little bigger. Sometimes just big enough. Midway through the third of a 1-1 game, Cossa was bailed out by his post after getting beat over the blocker on a semi-screened shot from the top of the circle, but couldn't get home in time to stop the rebound. Just a couple minutes later, he was beat to the far side, again under the glove, by a wrister from the face-off dot. This was one he'd want back. And late in the third, after the Walleye had shaved the deficit to one, Cossa was beat to the far blocker, post and in, on a two-on-one rush. 4-2 Reading. Win streak over. Reporter banished to Detroit.
"I was out a little far tonight and just a little bit off angle, got beat a couple times clean," Cossa said. "So that’s something to look forward to, to fix that, but definitely I think angles are No. 1 and then depth is key, too."
The very next night, Cossa would make 35 saves to return to the win column. He would make 40 the night after that, albeit in a loss. Sometimes reporters are in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Toledo, it should be said, is the right place to watch a hockey game. Friday night's atmosphere was electric. Cheers rained onto the ice during a break in the national anthem, the chime of cowbells and chants of LET'S-GO-FISH filled the air throughout the game and the crowd roared as the lights in the building flickered when the Walleye scored. The fans also went bonkers during a first-period fight, which ended with the Toledo combatant pumping his arms on his way to the box like a WWE wrestler on skates. Multiply the building's capacity by three, increase the cost of beer, and you've got an NHL arena in May.
"It’s sick," said Cossa, "it’s rocking. Definitely top-tier fans in the league, to say the least. They bring it every game. The city has been behind us and they definitely came out tonight."
Cossa wasn't sure where he'd be at the start of this season. He just knew he was done with junior hockey after dominating the WHL the past three years. Yzerman and the Red Wings weren't really sure themselves; they just knew they wanted Cossa to be challenged while playing a bunch of games. Toledo wound up being the best spot, a fact driven home when Cossa was swamped in the AHL during a three-game cameo in October. The ECHL is hardly littered with first-round picks, but it's been a good training ground for a giant goalie in his first professional season.
"Not being in the ECHL before, you obviously don’t hear many great things, ‘It’s a beer league,’ or whatever people want to say," Cossa said. "I think the league has gotten a lot better and from guys who have been in it for a couple years, they say the league’s been taking a big step each year. There’s guys here with NHL shots."
Cossa seemed to learn that the hard way in the early going. He'd stand on his head one game, then get yanked the next. Rock bottom may have come in December when he allowed five goals on 12 shots in a 6-1 loss at home. He entered the New Year with a sub-.900 save percentage and eight wins through 19 starts.
As he struggled to quite literally find his footing on the ice, Cossa, who was 19 when the season began, was suddenly in charge of his life off of it. Dropped into Toledo with no one but his girlfriend, he was buying his own groceries, cooking his own food -- Cossa credits his girlfriend, in this department -- and planning his own days with tons of new free time. Walleye head coach Dan Watson says Cossa has "grown up pretty quick" the past few months, with help from the team's strength and conditioning coach and its nutritionalist, and "I think that’s helping him on the ice."
"It's definitely new, after being in junior and having a billet family to take care of you. In pro hockey, the coaches kind of step away and you gotta take care of yourself," Cossa said. "It’s been a change, but it's one that I’ve embraced."
Cossa has also made a few adjustments in his crease, while working with Red Wings head of goaltending development Phil Osaer. Osaer is in Toledo almost daily to groom one of the club's most important prospects. Asked where he's grown during his second-half surge, Cossa points to his skating, his depth play and his tracking skills. Like any good goalie, he also credits the players in front of him: "I think it starts with the team obviously. We’ve done a lot better in the D zone and that just starts with guys tracking back, guys eating shots and just taking down the scoring chances. That’s definitely been a big part of it."
"He’s just way more confident in his play and in everything he’s doing," said Watson. "His movements are fluid, he’s battling around the crease better than what he was at the start of the year. I just think that maturity off the ice has helped that confidence, and that’s the biggest thing with goaltenders. You give one up, there’s always that doubt that comes into your mind and that fear. That doubt is gone now. He lets one in, he’s ready for the next shot and the next save.
"We’ve seen a first-half-of-the-year Sebastian Cossa and now a second-half-of-the year Sebastian Cossa. It’s a big difference."
The NHL is a young man's league, but less so for goaltenders. The average age of the top 10 goalies in save percentage this season is about 26. The youngest among them is 24. Only one goalie under the age of 22 has made more than five starts this season, 2019 first-round pick Spencer Knight of the Panthers.
A reminder that Cossa was drafted in 2021. A reminder that for all the parallels to Andre Vasilevskiy, drafted 19th overall by Yzerman in 2012, Vasilevskiy didn't make his Lightning debut until 2014-15 and didn't become the team's full-time starter until 2016-17 after spending parts of two seasons dominating the AHL. A reminder that Cossa is 20.
On a similar track as Vasilevskiy, Cossa could push for a look with the Red Wings next season, but only after clearing another big hurdle in Grand Rapids. He wouldn't push for the starting job in Detroit until 2024-25, which happens to be the final season of Ville Husso's contract. Husso, 28, has had a fine first season with the Wings, but hasn't done anything to change the big picture in goal. Until further notice, he's keeping the crease warm for Cossa.
Asked if he keeps tabs on the goaltending situation in Detroit, Cossa said, "Yeah, I know what’s happening, but at the end of the day, I don’t make any of those decisions. So I don’t lose any sleep over it. It’s cool to know, but it’s not my job. They got some good guys up there in Detroit taking care of that. Obviously, just trust them and they’re going to do what’s great for me."
Cossa, if you couldn't tell, is rooted in the moment. He's a Walleye, and the Walleye are chasing their first-ever ECHL championship. That's important to Cossa, who's ready to lead his team into the Kelly Cup playoffs next month after its other standout goalie (and Michigan State product) John Lethemon signed a contract with the Red Wings and was bumped up to Grand Rapids. Cossa is now third in the ECHL in games played, tied for second in wins and tied for first in shutouts. Among goalies with at least 30 starts, he's second in goals against average (2.44) and sixth in save percentage (.914).
"I’ve definitely had some ups and downs this year, but I think winning hockey games is the biggest thing for me," Cossa said. "If I continue to pile on wins, it’s going to get me to the next level. Hopefully have a long playoff streak with these guys and go into the summer, obviously lots of work to be done, and hopefully make that jump (to the AHL) next year."
Does the NHL feel close?
"It’s far closer than it was last year," said Cossa, "to say the least."
After Friday's loss, the Walleye welcomed a group of fans onto the ice and auctioned off their Wonder Woman jerseys. Each player signed his jersey and presented it to the winner. Cossa's was one of the first to go, for $1,100, and he could have been one of the first to leave, a first-round pick with a calling beyond Toledo. He was one of the last. After spending an extra 20 minutes or so chatting with the fans, Cossa finally shuffled off the ice. Everyone knows he won't be here long.
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