While Detroit Red Wings fans are hopeful that top prospects Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine are going to give the team world-class netminding, Filip Larsson serves as a cautionary tale of how quickly prospects can become suspect.
There was a time when the Red Wings thought the future of their goaltending was in the hands of Filip Larsson.
Then, they found out those hands weren’t capable of filling the role.
Waivers today:
Regular Waivers:#GoHabsGo Sammy Blais
Waivers for purposes of contract termination: #TimeToHunt Ryan McAllister#LetsGoPens Filip Larsson#stlblues Samuel Johannessonhttps://t.co/9gYSjobLzt pic.twitter.com/nlxQu52DFm
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) February 3, 2026
It took the Pittsburgh Penguins a year and a half to come to the same conclusion as the Red Wings.
The Penguins recently placed Larsson on NHL waivers for the purpose of giving him his unconditional release. After clearing NHL waivers, Larsson, 27, wasn’t out of work for long. He signed with Leksands of the SHL, Sweden’s top division.
“We have had a long dialogue with Filip about the future and next season,” Leksands sports director Thomas Johansson told Swedish website Expressen. “When we found a way forward, the present also opened up, and Filip expressed a desire to come now.”
✅ Återvänder till @leksands_if!
✍️ Filip Larsson, 27, är klar för en återkomst till Dalarna. Målvakten, som spelat i Nordamerika de två senaste åren, har skrivit på ett avtal som gäller till våren 2029.
🔗 https://t.co/aJcJXZfn9x pic.twitter.com/ytaYlPRWHO
— SHL.se (@SHLse) February 5, 2026
Larsson played with Leksands from 2022-24 before signing as a free agent with the Penguins. He spent last season and the start of this season in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. According to published reports in Sweden, Larsson signed for the remainder of this season and three more seasons after that. He’s being paid more than $66,000 per month.
“Filip’s previous journey in Leksands IF made a strong impression on all of us, and if we could get Filip to Leksands IF again, that would be fantastic,” Johansson said. “Now we are there, and it will be very fun to see Filip in Leksands colors.”
Back with Leksands, Larsson will be teammates with a current Red Wings prospect, defenseman Anton Johansson. He’s the son of Thomas Johansson.
Larsson Was Considered A Top Red Wings Prospect
The Red Wings made Larsson the 167th overall selection of the 2016 NHL entry draft. He came to North America, first with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm, and to play college hockey at Denver, and was a sensation. He was the USHL goaltender of the year in 2017-18.
The Red Wings were certain they’d found their next goaltending star, but when Larsson turned pro in 2019, those dreams quickly turned into a nightmare. In seven AHL games with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Larsson was 2-5-0 with a 4.01 goals-against average and .843 save percentage. He also saw duty in 10 ECHL games for the Toledo Walleye. Larsson was 4-6-0 with a 2.72 GAA and .910 save percentage.
The following season, Larsson returned to Sweden. He spent most of the next three seasons in Hockey Allsvenskan, the Swedish second division. Larsson even saw brief duty in the Danish League.