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Red Wings Net Not Yet Settled
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Red Wings Net Not Yet Settled
Max SmithFri, Jul 10, 2026·3 min readAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe post Red Wings Net Not Yet Settled appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.
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The Red Wings traded top prospect netminder Sebastian Cossa in order to get back into the first round of this year's draft, taking forward JP Hurlbert. Drafted in 2021 and developed by the organization over the last five years, it was somewhat surprising the Red Wings shipped away Cossa after only ever fielding the young netminder at the NHL level once.
However, Michal Postava, who Detroit signed out of the Czech league last offseason, had supplanted the incumbent Cossa as the best goalie in Grand Rapids, carrying the team for their postseason run further than Cossa had in the past two years. After a week of free agency Postava looks to be getting a real shot at the Red Wings backup netminder spot behind John Gibson, with only Daniil Tarasov signed.
There was no way that Detroit was going to go into the season with only Postava as their backup plan, as the 27 year old is only in his second year of North American hockey. John Gibson started the third most games in a season in his career last year at 57. The need for the Red Wings to sign a veteran backup had to be weighed against how much playing time Postava could win.
The organization likely doesn't want a repeat of the Cossa situation where by the time they're willing to test the waters with him he, requires waivers. That leads to Tarasov, who has been a career backup. Prior to last year when injuries to the Florida Panthers lineup forced him in-net for 33 games, Tarasov had never started 25 games in a season.
In his five years playing with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers, Tarasov has a record of 32-49-9. His GAA remains solidly above a 3.00 in that span as well. Tarasov certainly can play at the NHL level.
If the Red Wings were looking to send a message to Postava that he wasn't expected to seriously compete for the backup job, they probably would have looked for more solid options. Or re-signed Cam Talbot.
The Red Wings gave themselves the flexibility to bring Postava up, and potentially send Tarasov down during the season by signing him to a one year, two million dollar deal. If Postava wins the backup job after camp, then Tarasov would be able to help shelter a young Trey Augustine in his first season at the professional level. Not many teams want that kind of cap hit buried in the AHL.
Either way, it's time for Yzerman and the Red Wings to let their young goalies have their run.
While its unlikely Postava will be able to take Gibson's spot in the Red Wings lineup, he certainly has the chance, and ability to win the spot out of training camp. Postava took over the net in Grand Rapids last year over the back half of the AHL season. He may have done so earlier if not for an injury that kept him out of the lineup for a month last year.
For now, Postava looks to be the Red Wings goalie of the future.
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