Michal Postava’s rise has put the Red Wings in a very different spot than they expected.
What started as a quiet goaltending pipeline story has turned into something much louder, with Postava turning heads in Detroit and around the NHL while Sebastian Cossa has found playing time with the Utah Mammoth. The contrast is striking, especially after the long stretch where Cossa and the Red Wings seemed stuck in that familiar holding pattern. Postava, meanwhile, keeps stacking up performances that make it harder to ignore him.
Grand Rapids has already seen plenty of the Czech goalie’s work, and the Griffins’ latest move only adds another layer to the picture. After John Gibson went down with an injury against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Grand Rapids called up Carter Gylander from the Toledo Walleye.
Coincidentally, Gylander also came up the last time Postava got his first NHL look. Now the door appears open again.
Postava’s October was strong enough to earn him AHL Goaltender of the Month honors this week. The Griffins celebrated the award on November 3, and the numbers behind it are eye-catching. As of November 4, Postava owns a 1.20 goals against average and a 0.955 save percentage, which leads the AHL.
That kind of production has people talking, and one hockey writer, Vojtěch Tůma, pointed out just how extreme the numbers are. In a post shared on Twitter, Tůma noted that the figures are based on goalies with a minimum of ten games. The translation reads:
“Michal Postava has the highest save percentage of all goaltenders in AHL history...The kid has nothing left to do in the AHL…This is the Detroit Red Wings’ number one!”
That’s a bold label, and maybe a little early for some. But the performance is real, and it’s been steady. Postava has shown he can be dependable whether he’s in the AHL or getting NHL time.
There are still questions, of course. Durability is one of them.
Per Elite Prospects, Postava’s highest regular-season game total came in 2023-24, when he played 44 games in the second league in Czechia, plus six postseason games. His numbers held up there, and they also stayed strong the following season, when he played 42 regular-season games and 17 playoff games.
The challenge now is whether the Red Wings can ask him to handle more. In a perfect world, Gibson would be healthy and settled in.
But this season has already pushed the team into uncomfortable territory, and the schedule over the next couple of weeks only makes things trickier. If Gibson can’t go, Detroit may not have the luxury of waiting.
The other options in Grand Rapids are Trey Augustine and Carter Gylander. Augustine is in his first full professional season and still needs time to develop. Gylander brings more pro experience than Augustine and has promise of his own, but he is still splitting time between Grand Rapids and Toledo.
That leaves Postava as the clearest answer.
It’s a different kind of situation than the one Steve Yzerman tried to build around Cossa, when Grand Rapids always had a veteran goalie in the mix to share the load and serve as the first call-up. That setup made it tough for Cossa to break through. Now, whether by design or because of everything else that has gone sideways this offseason, Postava is the veteran in the Red Wings pipeline.
It’s a little ironic. Around this time last year, Postava was only beginning to get his feet wet in the AHL. Now he may be splitting time with Danil Tarasov, who has had a great start to his tenure in the Winged Wheel.
The Red Wings are still sorting through it all, but Postava has given them a real option. If he keeps this going, the path in Hockeytown starts to look a lot brighter.
In Other News...
Red Wings Suddenly Have A Goalie Problem They Feared Again
John Gibsons night against Tampa Bay ended early, and for the Red Wings, that was the kind of sight they were hoping not to see again. The veteran goaltender left with a lower-body injury and did not return, forcing Daniil Tarasov into the crease as Detroit tried to navigate the rest of the game without knowing how serious the issue might be.
The immediate concern now is less about one game and more about what comes next. The Red Wings are waiting on word on Gibsons status and how long he might be out, and if the injury keeps him sidelined, Detroit may have to look deeper into its goaltending depth sooner than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Still Have A Ben Chiarot Problem They Can't Ignore
Detroits defense has come a long way overall, but one familiar problem keeps hanging around. Ben Chiarot has struggled in a top-pair role next to Moritz Seider, and the Red Wings cant really afford to keep pretending that pairing is working if they want the blue line to hold up over the long haul. The rest of the group has improved enough to make the issue stand out even more, because the weak link is harder to hide when the unit as a whole is trending in the right direction.
Shawn Horcoff is now in the middle of trying to sort out the roster picture, and the pressure is only going to build as the calendar keeps moving. Detroit is also trying to shore up its defensive depth, which leaves the club weighing a few different paths if Chiarots play does not turn around, including a possible trade or a shakeup in the pairings. The next stretch matters because the Red Wings need a cleaner answer on the back end before the current setup starts to feel even more fragile. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Hit A Frustrating Larkin Roadblock In Trade Talks
The Dylan Larkin trade chatter has taken on a familiar kind of frustration for Detroit, where the Red Wings are trying to navigate a market that has not cooperated. Larkins name has surfaced in reports as the club looks for a workable path forward, but the process has been slowed by the limits already in place, leaving the front office with fewer options than it would like as it weighs what comes next.
There has also been some behind-the-scenes pressure to widen the field, with Detroit still searching for a deal that makes sense under the current restrictions. For a team trying to manage both its present and its future, the stalemate only adds another layer to a situation that has already become more complicated than anyone around the club would prefer. [Read more 🡒]