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Dylan Cozens was a rumoured trade candidate around the Buffalo Sabres, but not many expected the Ottawa Senators to be the landing spot. In a trade involving some more pieces, the leading players in the deal were Cozens to the Senators and Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker to the Sabres. The Senators also received Dennis Gilbert and a second-round pick.
Cozens was the Sabres' seventh-overall pick in the 2019 draft. He showed glimpses of his potential when he had 68 points in 81 games in 2022-23 but has been slowly regressing since that season. The Sabres expected that to be his breakout, but he was on pace for just 42 points this season before joining Ottawa. Buffalo began looking for options to give him a fresh start in the middle of this season.
Norris was a great fit in Ottawa, primarily because he grew up professionally with most of the core. Some criticism about the Senators has been their inability to perform consistently, and a slight shake-up of the core might be the answer to their issues. There is also some unreliability with Norris, as he has a shoulder issue that has sidelined him on multiple occasions.
Bernard-Docker could be the wild card to this entire deal. He has been in and out of the Senators' lineup, unable to find a concrete spot. Bernard-Docker has all the potential in the world but has fallen out of favor in Ottawa due to poor system fit and low coach trust. If anyone needed a fresh start, it was Bernard-Docker, and he could have the most significant payoff if he finds a fit.
Dylan Cozens could flourish with the Senators
Cozens has plenty of potential, but it didn't work in Buffalo. You can blame it on the Sabres' poor culture or the revolving door of coaching staff. Regardless, the Sabres are one of the most dysfunctional organizations in sports, and it's difficult to judge a player's ceiling or character when playing on that team. If Cozens finds his form with the Senators and finds chemistry with some of their young talent, we could see his ceiling rise exponentially.
The Senators have a great young core of Brady Tkachuk, Shane Pinto, Drake Batherson, and Thomas Chabot. The group has gone through plenty of growing pains, but it's finally coming to fruition this year as they sit in the first wild card spot. We've seen how quickly the Senators can fall out of a playoff spot in heartbreaking fashion for their fans, but there's something about this season that feels different. Ottawa needed one more piece to put them over the top, and Cozens could be the one to do it.
The other side is what happens if Cozens doesn't work out. Norris is a former 35-goal scorer, and the Senators will miss his contributions on the ice. The injuries were a concern, but they at least knew he was valuable in the lineup and a massive presence in the locker room. It could get ugly for Cozens if his confidence doesn't return in Ottawa.
Sabres take a risk with Josh Norris
From the onset, Norris is a great pick-up for the Sabres. However, the concern is that he has played over 60 games in a season just once out of five. Reoccurring shoulder injuries can cause plenty of problems, and who knows what Norris' career will look like in five years. The difference is that Cozens missed just seven games over the last four seasons.
Norris could easily go the rest of his Sabres' career without sustaining an injury. However, we know that that possibility is unlikely with players who were injury-plagued in the past. The Sabres must now put their trust in their medical staff to ensure the issues Norris faced in Ottawa are less of a concern. It could be something that isn't fixed by medical staff, and if that's the case, the trade has plenty of risks.
Bernard-Docker was a reliable defenseman for the Senators in 2023-24. He hasn't been in the lineup as much this year, but the Sabres are likely looking at this deal as a move that needed to happen. Buffalo is far from contention, and adding two young players in exchange for one is a good step to narrowing the gap between them and the rest of the Atlantic Division.
Most thought Buffalo's good years would be here by now, but they are nearly ten points behind the next-closest team in the division. Cozens would be part of the group that brought the team back to the playoffs after a long drought but hadn't lived up to the bargain. It's a move to shake things up more than anything else.
The final grade
The Senators have the highest upside in this trade with Cozens, while the Sabres took on plenty of red flags and what-ifs. Buffalo could be the winner of this trade once we look back in five years, but adding Gilbert and a second-round pick at this stage in the game seems like a slight overpay for an injury-riddled center and a defenseman who couldn't find a spot in the lineup in Ottawa.
Ottawa Senators Grade: B+
Buffalo Sabres Grade: C-
