Well, so much for this being a quiet deadline day for the Ottawa Senators.
The Senators have acquired centre Dylan Cozens, defenceman Dennis Gilbert and a 2026 second-round pick from the Buffalo Sabres. In return, the Sens are giving up centre Josh Norris and defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker.
Let’s begin with the intangibles. This is a move that’s sure to shake up Ottawa’s tightly-knit locker room that’s filled with young American players. NHL players vying for a playoff spot generally hope that deadline deals will improve their chances. Not only do they lose a pair of well-liked teammates, it’s probably hard for them to see how Cozens is an immediate short-term upgrade on Norris.
Beyond that, it’s hard not to immediately think about Brady Tkachuk, who has three years left on his contract. Every Sens fan wants him to sign an extension the second he’s eligible, but he just hasn’t had team success here – not yet, anyway. Now fans are booing his anthem, and the team has just traded away one of his best friends.
Tkachuk fought back the tears as he spoke to the media this morning, saying it sucks to lose a guy like that.
"Yeah, it's the unfortunate reality of it being a business," Tkachuk said. "We're going to get back some important pieces that are really going to help us. Yeah, I mean, sucks. It's part of it. Now, with Cuzzy and Gilbert, we're going to welcome them with open arms."
The two defencemen are both fringe NHL players on expiring deals. So it’s mainly a swap of two well-paid, underachieving young centremen.
Here’s the tale of the tape:
Age
Cozens turned 24 last month.
Norris is 26 in May.
Advantage: Ottawa
Salary
Cozens $7.1M cap hit
Norris $7.95M
Both players have five years left after this season
Advantage: Ottawa
Stats
Cozens has 11 G, 31 pts in 61 games. In 2022-23, he had 31 G, 68 pts in 81 games
Norris has 20 G, 33 pts in 53 games. In 2021-22, Norris had 35 G, 55 pts in 66 games
Advantage: Buffalo
Size
Cozens: 6-foot-3, 207 pounds
Norris: 6-foot-2, 196 pounds
Advantage: Ottawa
Health
Cozens: Has missed only six games total in the past four seasons
Norris: Has missed 130 games in the past four seasons
Advantage: Ottawa
That health factor has probably been a concern since the second GM Steve Staios got here.
Exactly as they were doing with Norris, the Senators are hoping they now have a centre who can return to the kind of elite scoring form he once showed. Cozens is cheaper, younger, bigger, and healthier. At the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, he scored 16 points in seven games. That was the fifth most in Canadian history.
Whether either player can fully restore their games and actually earn the kind of dough they’re being paid for the next five years is anyone’s guess. But you have to actually be play consistently to make that happen.
And in that area, Cozens is the much better bet.
By Steve Warne (@SteveWarneMedia)
This article is from The Hockey News Ottawa. For more Sens coverage all season long, be sure to bookmark THN Ottawa