Cozens Trade Made To Shake Up Sabres Core Group

The Buffalo Sabres made more than just the expected sell-off of expiring contracts on NHL Trade Deadline day, moving out one of their core group in center Dylan Cozens in a deal with the Ottawa Senators. The four-player deal on Friday culminated a season in which Cozens was connected in trade rumors to several clubs, but GM Kevyn Adams indicated that after another disappointing season, it was time to shake things up. 

“My thought process on this was, 'How can we improve our team?' And I think today was a good day." Adams said on Friday. "You evaluate that as you go, and you say ‘what's working, what's not working’ and you can't be afraid of making changes and big trades. I'd be lying if I didn't say part of the reason that we were open to a big trade (after) how the season has gone. These are hard trades to make; we traded out good players, and we're excited about the return, but these are hard days." 

The Sabres moved out the 23-year-old center and his $7.1 million salary along with Buffalo native Dennis Gilbert and a 2026 second-round pick for center Josh Norris and defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker. The 25-year-old Norris was originally a 2017 first-round pick of the San Jose Sharks and was dealt to Ottawa in 2018 in the Erik Karlsson trade. The Oxford, MI native scored a career-high 35 goals in 2021-22 and has the same contract length remaining as Cozens (five years at $7.95 million AAV), but has missed more than 100 regular season games over the last three campaigns with recurrent shoulder issues. 

 "(Norris) is a player that I have a very high opinion of. I've been watching him very closely for a while. He's a 200-foot center, very talented, responsible on both sides of the puck. He plays in all situations. Both special teams, very good face-off guy," Adams said. "He's just a really good hockey player that is a true center that we think is going to be a guy that can come in and give us a boost and make the guys around him better, and that's why we targeted him."

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicated that Norris’s name was also out there on the trade market like Cozens and wondered if this was the best deal that the Sabres could make, with the factor of no-trade protection being taken into consideration. Buffalo had to make a bold move with a 14th straight season of missing the playoffs and had to get a center in return for Cozens, but the injury history of Norris makes this trade a risky proposition.

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