3 Teams Most Likely To Try To Acquire Red Wings' Cossa

While the Detroit Red Wings haven't had any success getting back to the postseason and general manager Steve Yzerman has had criticism directed at him now, he has drafted well and there are more talented prospects on their way. Goaltending is tough to find and the Red Wings not only have Cam Talbot and John Gibson as the NHL tandem, Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine are in the system.

Both Cossa and Augustine are projected to be NHL starters, so it doesn't make too much sense for both to stick around with other teams willing to pay and the team not being in a position to have both in net in the NHL at once while trying to compete right now.

Cam Robinson said, "the fact that they have Augustine there in the Red Wings system allows (Cossa) to be an expendable chip. Now, there's no pinch point...they don't have to move this guy." Cossa will be NHL-ready sooner than Augustine, but as I mentioned, the team just traded for Gibson who has two years left and Talbot is still playing well with another year on his deal. It very well could be Gibson and Cossa in net in 2026-27 with Augustine getting close, but Augustine is a non-starter in a trade with Detroit for any team while the same wasn't said about Cossa. Here are the three most likely teams to try to acquire Cossa.

Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers are still trying to make more moves to get younger and extend their Stanley Cup window. Moves like bringing in Isaac Howard this season kicked things off and while nothing has been done in net other than allowing Olivier Rodrigue to become a free agent, the future still has to be found in a goalie that hasn't been so hit and miss with Stuart Skinner. Stan Bowman has already been in contact with the Red Wings about Augustine and potentially Cossa.

Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers will have to find a replacement in net pretty soon if they want to extend their Stanley Cup window as well. After going to three consecutive finals and winning the last two, Sergei Bobrovsky may not have many more seasons left in him. He is heading into the final year of his deal at $10 million AAV. The organization has Daniil Tarasov, Brandon Bussi, and Cooper Black, but there's no certainty any of them can be more than a backup. It appears as though Cossa has the highest potential by a lot and there's no cap space to use any first-round pick to acquire major upgrades at the trade deadline, so why not invest in the near future?

Carolina Hurricanes

This will likely be Frederik Andersen's last year with the Carolina Hurricanes. It was because the free agent market was going to be so bad that the team extended the veteran another year, but they have repeated this cycle many times without a Stanley Cup. The 36-year-old can't stay healthy and there isn't a clear goaltender to take over the number one job. Even though Pyotr Kochetkov has been able to hold down the net for stretches, I don't think he is necessarily the go-to guy in net for a team that could win the Cup. Trading for Cossa and throwing him in net as the backup would put a lot of pressure on both for the first year, but it is a solution for the future when it's not easy to find help in net that they should be able to trust for many years.