Red Wings Prospect Augustine Helps USA Capture Gold

The Detroit Red Wings could not expect more from goalie Trey Augustine than he has delivered in his first six months as one of their draft prospects.

Augustine (drafted 41st overall in 2023) added to his stellar play at Michigan State by stopping 26 of 28 shots to help USA down Sweden 6-2 in the gold medal game at the World Junior Championships. The silver medal-winning Swedes had Detroit draft pick defensemen Axel Sandin Pellikka (drafted 17th in 2023) and Anton Johansson (drafted 105th in 2022) on their roster. Sandin Pellikka was named the tournament’s top defenseman.

Meet our Golden Boys!

Team USA captures its fifth-ever gold medal at the World Junior Championships!

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Isaac Howard led the tournament with seven goals – two in the gold medal game today – and Trey Augustine posted a 1.75 GAA and .936 save percentage over his games in… pic.twitter.com/UHOkGoVxmk

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) January 5, 2024

The South Lyon, Mich. goalie was 4-0 in the tournament with a 1.75 goals-against average and .931 save percentage.  Augustine, 18, helped the Americans win a bronze medal last year. Augustine now had nine career wins at the WJC, placing him third on USA’s all-time list.

“It’s a great feeling,” Augustine said. “We just stuck to our game plan, and things worked out for us. I think the turning point was early in the third when we got that goal from Buium. That settled us down. It was a great game for us. We wanted to make them make a perfect shot.”

Sebastian Cossa, two years older than Augustine, is Detroit’s No. 1 goalie prospect. He’s playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins. But it’s hard not to look at Augustine having ability similar to Cossa’s. The major difference is Cossa is 6-foot-6 and Augustine is five inches shorter.

Sandin Pellikka netted two goals and finished with six points in seven games for Sweden. He posted one assist in the gold medal game. Johansson played sparingly but drew notice for his heavy hitting. He only played 12 seconds in the gold medal game, yet managed to log 12 minutes of penalties in the final minutes of the game.