Final season was a serious disappointment for the Buffalo Sabres, who failed to achieve the playoffs for the primary time since 2011. Many gamers underwhelmed, and, as such, they’ll be tasked with bouncing again come the autumn. The highlight will likely be fastened on a couple of names, however maybe none greater than Dylan Cozens.
Getting into his fourth full NHL season and fifth general, Cozens has turn out to be an unquestioned a part of the Sabres’ core. Nonetheless, his inconsistency has turn out to be a priority, and his profession thus far has been hit-or-miss. Coming off a terrific breakout season the yr earlier than, 2023-24 noticed a serious regression in virtually each facet of his sport. With expectations excessive and persistence sporting skinny for the Sabres, he has no alternative however to show it round.
Cozens Is Proficient
It’s necessary to do not forget that Cozens remains to be very younger. This can be his fifth season, however he’s nonetheless solely 23 years previous. The Sabres first referred to as him up a month earlier than his twenty first birthday, and he doubtless wasn’t prepared. However he’s carried out very effectively regardless of that.
Due to nice all-around offensive consciousness and diligent backchecking, the seventh general decide of the 2019 Draft has turn out to be one of many Sabres’ finest gamers. Though he’s removed from essentially the most imposing presence on the ice, he’s demonstrated that he’s not afraid to face up for himself or his teammates and has been concerned in quite a few fights. Followers have gravitated towards him, dubbing him “The Workhorse from Whitehorse“.
Cozens has additionally skilled way more success than most gamers his age, already with a 30-goal season to his credit score. The Sabres know full effectively that he’s solely scratching the floor and will likely be able to way more as he matures, however therein, sadly, lies the difficulty. The Yukon native has proven appreciable promise however hasn’t been capable of preserve any consistency on a year-to-year foundation.
His 4 seasons in Buffalo have been up and down. He carried out very effectively in his 41-game rookie marketing campaign regardless of the obstacles of the COVID pandemic and was one of many few positives in an in any other case disastrous run for the Sabres. He adopted it up with a sophomore marketing campaign that noticed him rating 11 targets within the first half, solely to stumble and rating simply twice after that.
It was a troublesome go for the middle, however he couldn’t have bounced again in an even bigger manner, breaking out with 31 targets and 68 factors in 2022-23 to assist the Sabres come inside a single level of the playoffs. It appeared that Cozens had formally introduced his arrival, and his crew rewarded his quantum leap with a seven-year, $49.7 million contract extension signed in February 2023.
2023-24 Was a Colossal Disappointment
Heading into the 2023-24 season, everybody was optimistic. After coming so shut, followers and the media had been positive that this was the tip of the Sabres’ dreaded playoff drought, and the crew got down to do exactly that. Cozens, in the meantime, aimed to proceed his skyrocketing momentum and additional set up himself amongst the NHL’s elite defensive forwards. None of these issues occurred.
The season was a failure for the Sabres, who took a large step backwards and completed simply two video games above .500 and 7 factors out of the playoffs. Head coach Don Granato proved incapable of fixing the crew’s many issues and was relieved of his duties the day after the season ended, making it the seventh teaching change of the Pegula period.
Sadly, no participant personified that regression greater than Cozens. His manufacturing dropped to 18 targets and 47 factors, and whereas that’s not horrible, it was a far cry from what was anticipated, and that wasn’t even essentially the most disappointing half.
Cozens had set himself aside early on along with his intelligence and a focus to element not typically seen in such a younger participant. Final season, the poised two-way drive had been changed by somebody who regarded like a deer within the headlights. It was the little issues, akin to skating the puck to the corners to attract in defenders and open up the center, that made such a big effect, and with out them, his play grew to become sloppy and unmotivated. It was the primary time in his profession that he resembled a participant his age.
In Cozens’ protection, he was hardly the one Sabre to show in a lacklustre marketing campaign, however he stood out essentially the most. No one is aware of the explanation for Buffalo’s stunning regression, however essentially the most closely theorized cause was that Granato tried to steer the crew in a extra defensively accountable route. The gambit didn’t work, and it took the chunk out of the crew’s offense (their largest asset) and made them straightforward for opponents to manhandle, one thing Cozens was very candid about after an embarrassing loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in December.
“We’re manner too tender this yr,” he instructed Sportsnet.
Returning longtime head coach Lindy Ruff is tasked with fixing that downside and making the Sabres harder and extra disciplined; in any other case, these outcomes will proceed.
Cozens Should Flip Issues Round
The entire Sabres who misplaced their manner final season must get themselves again on observe if the crew needs a sensible likelihood at success. And after an offseason that noticed many key faces depart, function gamers should step as much as fill the void. Cozens will likely be on the prime of that record, and the Sabres want him to rediscover his sport for a lot of causes.
For starters, they’ve significantly much less depth this season after the shocking buyout of Jeff Skinner. With out him, the offense is much much less formidable, and the crew didn’t do a lot to exchange him. Basic Supervisor Kevyn Adams signed a random assortment of midline gamers, and whereas they’ll revamp the bottom-six, they received’t remedy the scoring subject. In his function because the no. 2 heart, Cozens needs to be the offensive risk he’s able to being, or else Buffalo received’t have a lot of an assault.
The Sabres can even not afford to be so dangerous defensively. Messy and irresponsible two-way play has been their largest subject over the previous few years, and it got here to a head final season. Cozens is just too sensible and too thorough to wrestle as a lot as he did, and the hope is that he’ll profit from Ruff’s tutelage. It’s secure to imagine he may tackle an elevated function on the penalty kill with longtime anchor Zemgus Girgensons now not round, and that would assist him shore up his sport.
The final cause is monetary. With Skinner’s contract now not on the books, Cozens is now the fourth-highest-paid member of the crew at $7.1 million per season. The Sabres’ wage cap scenario is tight and can get even tighter with Alex Tuch within the closing yr of his contract – and administration will likely be trying to lengthen him. They will’t afford to accept middling returns from a participant who occupies a good portion of their payroll. So far, Cozens hasn’t offered a lot return on their funding, and that has to vary.
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Cozens embodies each high quality the Sabres want to vary their fortunes; he’s as useful to the crew as anybody. However he wants to point out that he can preserve his excessive degree of play after 4 start-stop seasons. If not, he might discover himself rapidly falling out of favor with a fanbase rising more and more impatient, which could lead on the Sabres to contemplate shifting on. Will he discover his sport this season?
