DETROIT — The Detroit Red Wings called up Sebastian Cossa Wednesday and may return him to the Grand Rapids Griffins Thursday without a single minute of playing.

But maybe they won’t send him back. His fate will be determined by how John Gibson feels this morning.

“(John) Gibson did skate today,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said Wednesday. “He’s feeling much better than he did the other day, but not quite ready to go.”

That’s makes Gibson day-to-day. Cam Talbot played for Detroit in a 4-3 overtime loss to Vegas Wednesday. Cossa was his backup. With regard to Cossa, McLellan said: “We’ll see what happens from here.”

Gibson left Monday’s game in Nashville after one period suffering from what McLellan called a stinger-like issue in the shoulder area. It doesn’t sound like a major issue. It seems possible that Gibson could be ready to jump back into the Eastern Conference playoff race Friday at home against Florida.  The Red Wings show 77 points after a disappointing loss to the Golden Knights. After that game, hockeyreference.com has them with an 83.4% probability of ending their nine-year playoff drought.

But the Red Wings haven’t clinched anything. Maybe the right move is to get Gibson back in the net ASAP.

Or, maybe not.

More Healing Time

Maybe the right move is to give Gibson a couple extra days to heal and give Cossa the start against Florida Friday. Certainly, Detroit fans would enjoy that. They’ve been waiting impatiently to see what 6-foot-7, 221-pound Cossa can do at the NHL level. Undoubtedly, the Red Wings would like to see what Cossa does against NHL competition as well.

“We’ve seen him in a lot of games in the American League,” McLellan said. “He’s done a tremendous job working on his game down there. He’s led that team to a lot of wins. We’re in a situation where we’re trying to win as much as we possibly can, which may be different than three or four years ago here where you were looking up players and you were in some sense giving tryouts. We feel really, really good about Sebastian. If we need him, we’re ready to call him. We didn’t hesitate at all today. So there may be a chance that he gets an opportunity to play this year down the road. But right now we have the two that we’re confident in.”

That certainly sounds like Gibson will play Friday if he’s ready, but let’s see what Gibson says today.

Cossa Seems Ready

The fan excitement over Cossa comes from his dominance in the AHL this season. He’s 24-4-3 and owns a 1.99 goals-against average and .927 save percentage. He’s a primary reason why the Griffins have enjoyed the best start in the AHL’s 90-year history.

“The team around (Cossa and Michal Postava) has played very, very good,” McLellan said. “The confidence is going both ways. It’s coming from players to goaltenders and goaltenders to players. And as a result, they end up clinching a playoff spot in a record amount of time.”

Talbot will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. The presumption is Gibson, who has played brilliantly this season, and Cossa will be the Detroit goalies next season. Another reason for the Red Wings to give Cossa NHL time this season.

Cossa had one NHL relief effort in 2024-25 and he won it. He made 12 saves.  Cossa has played 112 AHL games. He’s clearly hungry for more NHL action.

“That’s what I’m striving for for sure,” said Cossa So, you know, I’ve had a successful year so far down there, and you know, I continue that for sure. But, you know, this is where I want to be.”