Like many hockey fans, Sebastian Cossa and his wife, Emerson, watched the exciting part of the draft — the first half of the first round.
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After that, unless you’ve really paid attention to draft-eligible prospects, it’s easy to lose interest. The Cossas switched over to a movie, intending to end their evening on a low-key note.
It would be anything but that.
The movie was interrupted by a phone call from Cossa’s agent, Scott Bonner. For the first time in his budding NHL career, he’d been traded.
“(It was a) bit of a celebration after that,” Cossa recalled in his introductory press conference with the media members who cover his new team, the Utah Mammoth.
The Mammoth acquired Cossa with hopes that he’ll become their goalie of the future.
Few net-minders are drafted in the first round, and Cossa is one of them. Since his draft year, 2021, he has maintained a reputation as one of the top goalie prospects in the league — but playing behind John Gibson and Cam Talbot with the Detroit Red Wings, he didn’t have the runway to prove himself in the NHL.
If everything goes as planned in Utah, he’ll serve as the backup goalie, likely playing between 20 and 30 games this season. At some point in the future, he should have the chance to earn the starter’s net.
“If you look at his work in the (AHL) over the last few years, he’s at the point where he’s accumulated enough games in the American Hockey League,” said Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong. “At his age, it’s absolutely perfect. Now, he’s going to have that opportunity to take that next step.”
Armstrong and his staff made their intentions with Cossa clear by signing him Tuesday to a two-year deal worth $2 million annually.
“I knew it was a good organization coming in.”
Sebastian Cossa on his first impressions of Utah. pic.twitter.com/q6Mjg2uGfG
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— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) June 30, 2026
In the hockey world, that’s known as a bridge deal. The idea is that the player has the length of that contract to show what he’s worth. If it works out, he’s in prime position for a long-term contract worth significant money. If it doesn’t, the team isn’t tied to a bad deal.
“The way I was brought in, they’ve shown full confidence in me, which is awesome,” Cossa said. “Obviously still a lot of work to do. (I’m) looking forward to that, but (I) definitely feel confident.”
Q&A with Sebastian Cossa
Cossa answered a number of get-to-know-you questions in his introductory press conferences. Here are some of the best ones.
The questions have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Tell us about yourself, as both an athlete and a person.
A: “I’m just going to come to the rink every day and work my hardest, give the organization and city everything I have. (I’ll be a) good teammate day in and day out, be supportive with my teammates there, and like I said earlier, just want to win a lot of hockey games.”
“I like my wife. We have a dog, as well. Obviously, here, with all the outside stuff, (we’ll) hopefully go fishing, go hiking, hopefully find some good golf courses and just spend some time with the family for sure.”
Q: What kind of dog do you have?
A: “He’s a Bernedoodle.”
Q: If Dylan Guenther (who was teammates with Cossa for three years in juniors) took 10 shots on you, how many goals would he score?
A: “I would say probably three, maybe. He’d probably say six. So, maybe somewhere in the middle of that.”
Q: On an individual level, what would constitute a perfect season for you?
A: “Come in and show I belong in this league. … Hopefully it’s a seamless transaction, but obviously it’s not a perfect world, so (there) might be a couple of bumps along the way. But hopefully, looking back and saying, it’s a successful year.”
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“… Just win hockey games, you know. That’s the most important thing for me.”