2021 NHL Draft Profile: Sebastian Cossa
Over the past couple weeks we have been breaking down options the Blackhawks might consider with the 11th overall pick in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft.
Thus far we have discussed eight forwards: Matthew Coronado, Chaz Lucius, Mason McTavish, Aatu Raty, Brennan Othmann, Cole Sillinger, Zachary Bolduc and Fabian Lysell.
Now, we’re going to take a look at one of the top goaltenders who might be available.
Jesper Wallstedt is considered the top goaltending prospect in this draft class, and will likely be gone before the Blackhawks are on the clock. And, even though the Blackhawks selected Drew Commesso in the second round last year and have every reason to be high on him, there’s another netminder on the board who could tempt the Hawks at No. 11.
Sebastian Cossa
G
6-6 / 210
Edmonton (WHL)
Ranked #14 by TSN/McKenzie
Ranked #1 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (NA Goalies)
Ranked #19 by MCKEEN’S HOCKEY
Ranked #29 by CONSOLIDATED RANKING
Ranked #24 by ELITEPROSPECTS.COM
Ranked #23 by FCHOCKEY
Ranked #23 by SPORTSNET’S
Ranked #43 by RECRUIT SCOUTING
Ranked #36 by DOBBERPROSPECTS
Ranked #24 by DRAFT PROSPECTS HOCKEY
Ranked #24 by SMAHT SCOUTING
Ranked #32 by THE PUCK AUTHORITY
From Corey Pronman (The Athletic)
#10 overall prospect
Athleticism: Average
Hockey Sense: Average
“Cossa has been as good as you could have asked him to be in the WHL, dominating the league for the last two seasons. His athletic toolkit is very intriguing as a 6-foot-6 goalie who can move very well for that size. He covers a lot of net with his length. He has some quick twitch in his frame in how he moves around the net, and gets in and out of his butterfly. Cossa’s reads are typically great. He loses track of some pucks and can be a bit busy in the net but usually anticipates the play very well. I love his selective aggressiveness with his positioning, and how he takes away angles with his size as well as how well he uses his stick to break up a lot of plays. In a sentence, Cossa projects as a quality NHL starting goaltender with the potential to become an upper-echelon goalie.”
From Chris Peters’ Hockey Sense
#13 overall prospect
“It took me all year to get there, but the more I watched Cossa video the more I viewed him as a goalie with legit No. 1 ceiling. I think we have to take his numbers with a slight grain of salt, given his .941 save percentage and 17-1-1 record in 19 appearances came against a limited WHL schedule against in-division opponents. But if you take the numbers out of it even, he still looks like one of the elite prospects in this draft. His size, his speed, his hockey sense all look NHL-caliber. Cossa was wilder in the crease a season ago. This year, he’s quieted things down without losing his explosiveness. His pre-shot reads looked stronger this year. There were so few times he got beaten clean from outside shots. I’m a little scared of the sample size this year, but I also don’t have strong enough feelings about others in this class that I can say they have higher upside than this massive, athletic goalie who looks special relative. While I don’t put him in the Yaroslav Askarov/Spencer Knight category yet, he’s not far off from that. He’s going to go early and I think he’s going to deserve it, too.”
From LastWordonHockey.com
Skating and Talent Analysis
Coming in at 6’6?, Cossa has the type of ideal size that NHL teams are looking for in a modern goalie prospect. He takes advantage of his size and gives shooters little net to look at with his strong positioning. He gets out to the top of the crease and cuts down angles well. He’s not one to get outside of his crease, but given his frame and his ability to stay square to the puck, Cossa doesn’t need to. Cossa has strong legs and good movement. His puck tracking is very good and he gets side-to-side quickly, always being in the right position to challenge the shooter. By playing a slight bit deeper than most goalies he can get side to side quickly and make saves on cross-ice passes. Cossa’s legs are strong and he gets up and down in the butterfly quickly.
Cossa is so tall that when he does go down in the butterfly, his shoulders still reach the crossbar and his frame takes up much of the net. His glove as well as his blocker are solid. This helps him take away the top of the net. Like many young goaltenders, Cossa could work on his rebound control. It is good for his age but more improvements are necessary. He does a good job of sealing the post when the puck is down below the goal line.
Cossa is also a good puck handler. He gets out of his crease quickly and retrieves dump-ins. He can act as a third defenceman for his teams, starting the breakout and moving the puck up the ice. Cossa takes advantage of teams making a slow line change with the ability to throw a long breakaway pass to a teammate.
Mental Make-Up
Playing on the Oil Kings, there are times when Cossa is not seeing a lot of action at his end of the ice. Despite this, he stays focused and is always ready for the next opportunity. Playing on a team where you don’t see a lot of shots can test a goalie’s focus but Cossa has come through this with flying colours. He has also shown the ability to slow the play down and get a faceoff in the times his team is running around their own end. Defenders rely on Cossa to keep his cool under pressure. Even when he gives up a goal, he doesn’t let it get to him. Cossa is ready to make the next save and does not linger on mistakes.
Projection and Comparison
Cossa has everything needed to be a top goaltender at the next level but will need some time. Expect to see him back with the Oil Kings next season. He should also challenge for the starting spot on Team Canada at the World Juniors. Like many young goalies continued improvements on his rebound control and facing better shooters will be needed. He is a long-term project but one who could become a franchise goalie for his team. Expect Cossa to need at least a couple of years of AHL action after his junior career is done. Cossa’s game is reminiscent of Ben Bishop, but this is a stylistic comparison only and not one based on skill and ability.
I wonder how teams will view taking a chance on goalies, a risk in normal years, high in a draft without the chance for proper scouting. Possibility exists that nobody taken in this draft will be on an Nhl roster when season begins, a rarity that says all you need to know about lack of tier 1 generational type players at top of draft. Although looking at success of teams these playoffs with goalies drafted in 1st round, Price, Vasilevskiy, Fleury make a case for drafting a goalie there.
I posted this at the end of the previous thread – it has a Cossa connection
With Lank, Soderblom and Commesso in the pipeline I don’t see the Hawks taking a goalie
I think they get one of Edvinsson, Sillinger, Lysell or Johnson – I don’t think McTavish survives to 11
Pasted post below;
In The Hockey Writers latest mock they have Edvinsson still available at 11 – in fact he went 12th with Hawks taking Cossa the goalie- this was possible because both Lysell and Wallstaedt went in the top 10
This is the sort of scenario I’m hoping plays out on draft night but the Hawks end up with Edvinsson not Cossa
No need for a goalie they say is average and being compared to Ben Bishop….PASS !!
Too many needs to consider a goalie in a high round. Big and Tall goalies are high maintenance. We need quality physical forwards and 2 top tier D Men NOW!
To Tim W: IDK Tim, most of the top goalies in the playoffs this year were 6′ 2″ or taller. Short goalies aren’t in style right now. Besides whenever this team will be ready to compete they are going to need a #1 goalie so why not have one that’s huge and could possibly be a great goalie in a couple of years when the dust settles around here??
Cossa is intriguing but I’m not as high on him as others and I do think Wallstedt is the superior prospect. At pick 11, I wouldn’t want to take the second goalie in the class..if Wallstedt has already been picked, I would move on to the best center or winger on my board at 11..or I’d look to move back if the next 7-8 picks graded out similarly-perhaps the Hawks can get lucky and add a 2nd or 3rd rounder..regardless, I think the Hawks will have better options at 11 whether they attempt to move back or simply take the bpa..
Wish we had 2 first round pick …I remember long time ago we had number 10 and 11 in 2000 ..Hawks had 2 Russian players … I was soo upset …
Those 2 players played less then 100 games in NHL Vorobiev and yakubov where really bad pick .
Hope the Hawks will get a good number 11 pick .
Draft him and trade him to Calgary with Keith and not ask for the twelfth pick for Tkachuk. If we need to add some else ok. This way Calgary gets 11 and 12 plus Keith and whomever that’s reasonable.
Or trade Cossa to Edmonton with Keith for their number one and Kassian. If we need to take Lucic’s money so be it.
Hopefully the Hawks end up with one of Edvinsson, Lysell, Sillinger, or Johnson no need to take a goalie at 11 not named Wallstedt. Like the kid but not at 11.
This.
WRAPAROUND
July 6, 2021 at 11:28 pm
In The Hockey Writers latest mock they have Edvinsson still available at 11 – in fact he went 12th with Hawks taking Cossa the goalie- this was possible because both Lysell and Wallstaedt went in the top 10
This is the sort of scenario I’m hoping plays out on draft night but the Hawks end up with Edvinsson not Cossa
WHen TB gets a littl eolder next two yrs they iwll have same thing happen to them as he top 5 teams did from last decade. ANA STL LA CHI SJ NAS.
TB is the last of the ‘real’ top 3 or top 5 quality teams roster wise. The salary cap watered down entire top 10 teams. TB is last standing of those top teams.
So when that happens its a full reset and I donot think there will be any team as good as the dynasty Blackhawks or LA BOS/13 ANA SJ STL NAS which were the top teams of that decade with TB rounding out the decade basically.
So taht means we/or anyother team donot have to assemable as god of roster as any of those teams nor TB has now. TB not having to agasint any of the top 5 teams from last decade. They did and didnt win once/same for PIT WAS STL those top 6-10 of last decade could not complete/win against the ‘real’ top 5 teams of 2010-2020 decade until the salary cap watered down the top 5 teams and as soon as that happened they all won/no a coincidence.
So lets load up because it will be more even amounst the top 10 teams and there wont be any teams like those top 5/CHI LA BOS-13 ANA NAS SJ in the next decade.
You can do it.
I know we mighgt need a top 5 goalie like Crow again and these goalies we see on some of the playoff teams. ISL are good and they donot have top 5 goalie they have one of he best team systems and some players.
We need this first then maybe trade for goalie/ufa I mean we drafted Nemo Crow so its tuff what to add.
Remember though we should prob have another top 10 pick next draft/which is prob last top 10 we get so are there any top goalies in that draft.
Like Tim says we need this and that.
TIM W.
July 7, 2021 at 12:19 pm
Too many needs to consider a goalie in a high round. Big and Tall goalies are high maintenance. We need quality physical forwards and 2 top tier D Men NOW!
I like moving up and getting that better goalie or Tavish if hes really better then these others. We can use the pcik we got for the summer ufa add tradeline guys. And then get another 2nd or 3rd like that from the this yrs summer ufa add tradeline guys.
Lets get the better draft player and still add that extra 2nd/3rd.
Congrats to the Bolts. Very nice run. I do think the Habs showed the way to dent their armor though. Run at their high end forwards and punish those 2 top D Men. They certainly don’t like big physical men coming at them. Let’s build the monster to get that done!
No goalie unless we can trade him for something of a greater need. We have Lankinen Comesso, Basse is 6’6′ think we have Gravel and rights to Nalimov still. We can always find an Allian Chevier or Bob Mason.
Goalies are like Centers in the NFL. Without a good one, a crucial part of your team sucks and you get over-ridden by your opponent. But, teams don’t really draft one in the first round. I don’t know why – they are both critical. Look at the kid in FLA (Spencer Knight)! What a mistake it was signing Boborovky to that huge contract! This kid is the real deal. I would love to see the Hawks draft a star skater, but if the GK is that much better, just take the best hockey player, irregardless of position!
Mo
Agree to move up for a player but not for no 11 pick plus a second round pick .
We need those 2 picks in second round in this draft .
3 pick in top 60 is really essential specially that we have no more pick in top 100
JR Roman….Gravel is no longer listed as a prospect, my guess is he had 1 not so good year and mgt bailed on him….same can happen to commesso
Gravel needed to be signed to an elc by June 1st last year pr become an ufa which he did. He opted to go back to his Q league team played in 20 games with a 3.90 gaa and .887 sv%, 5his season, he is an ufa again this summer.
One of Sillinger or Lysell should be available at 11 even if nothing unexpected happens
Either would be fine with me – maybe a slight preference for Sillinger but I’ll trust the Hawks scouting to make the call
If McTavish Edvinsson or Johnson drops in their laps then that’s fine too
Only thing I think if about not draft another good goalie after you already have one is this. TB had two the goalie we beat in 15 with TB being 0-1 agasint us. Then they had this younger goalie the guy they have now. So maybe having two good goalies could be good. Not being stuck with a extra one like FLR to use the trade and get good trade and make sure we end up with at least one elite goalie.
2010, yea right! we need to get a good one no Fing around with hopefuls.
Not wanting to trade 2nd though I would rather get a better player and ok with 2nd since we can get another 2nd with another summer ufa tradeline guy.
Only thing about that is is this draft or next yrs draft deeper in the 2nd round with quality players. Remember we find gems in 2nd rounds. Also is this draft or next yrs draft more worth moving up to 7 8 9 area from 9-12 if thats where we are next draft. Therefore the 2nd round pick were not sure on if this draft or next drfat is more wirth having.
Sure having 6 players in top 45 picks this draft and next draft is very importanty. Like Tim said we need to build a monster and also aquire from ufa not just draft. Do from both you can do it.
Thats my question do you guys think its worth tarding 2nd or 3rd to move up and get Tavish or Edvisson compared to just getting Sillinger or Lysell. And know that we can replenish the 2nd with another summer ufa add tradeline get the 2nd back.
Is Tavish ot Edvisson better then Sillinger Lysell to do that?