The NHL has seen some consequential deals in advance of next week’s NHL 4-Nation Face-Off, but to this point, none of them have involved the Buffalo Sabres, who are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings despite winning their last three games.
The center trade board has seen a few of its main targets checked off, as Vancouver dealt JT Miller to the NY Rangers, Carolina swapped Martin Necas in the Mikko Rantanen deal, San Jose shipped rental Mikael Granlund to Dallas, and Philadelphia sent Morgan Frost to Calgary, but according to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, the Flames are still hoping to improve up the middle and remain interested in Buffalo’s Dylan Cozens.
Cozens, 23, has five years remaining on a seven-year $49.7 million contract ($7.1 million AAV), but his second disappointing season after scoring a career-high 31 goals in 2023 has seen his name mentioned frequently in trade rumors.
LeBrun indicated that Calgary is enamored with the Yukon Territory native and is looking to make a hockey trade similar to the deal with Philadelphia but does not know whether the Flames have the pieces necessary to make a deal with Buffalo possible.
Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams has maintained this season that his club, which is headed for its 14th consecutive year outside of the postseason, is looking to make hockey deals that will improve the Sabres immediately and not trade established players for young prospects and draft picks.
"We’re trying to add to our team. We want to make our team better," Adams said on WGR 550 radio on Friday. "I'm approaching this as more of if there are deals out there, we're wide open. We have to be willing to look at everything, especially where we are in the standings, but are there hockey trades to make?"
Interest in Cozens has been brisk in spite of the Sabres not shopping him, as LeBrun says two-thirds of the league -- including the Vancouver Canucks – have checked in on his availability. Vancouver is looking to replace Miller up the middle, but the talk related to Cozens involved a potential deal involving Elias Pettersson.
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