It’s been less than a year since the Buffalo Sabres traded Dylan Cozens to the Ottawa Senators, but the deal has quickly become emblematic of a franchise caught between patience and panic.
Once considered a foundational part of the team’s competitive future, Cozens’ age, contract, and upside made him a player that most rebuilding organizations would typically double down on after a frustrating season, not give up on.
The former seventh overall selection earned himself a seven-year, $49.7-million extension in February 2023 in the midst of his most productive season. He finished with 31 goals and 68 points on a 43-win Sabres team that was one point away from breaking their lengthy playoff drought.
While there was a significant drop in point production throughout the 2023-24 season for Cozens, he was not the only one who experienced some serious, and expected, regression.
Jeff Skinner’s 82-point campaign was certainly an outlier, Alex Tuch averaged over a point per game for the first and only time in his career, and the team as a whole had the fourth-highest shooting percentage in the league and finished fifth in goals for above expected, according to MoneyPuck.
All of this makes it much less surprising that the Sabres didn’t stay on an upward trajectory. They produced offense at an unsustainable rate relative to the talent on the roster, and with an unstable goaltending situation, the 2023-24 season was a disastrous follow-up to what was a promising year for a fan base deprived of success for so long.
With patience running thin as another disappointing season from the Sabres began to take shape in 2024-25, change felt imminent. Although giving up on a center who was 23 years old didn’t feel like the best place to start.
This was a player whom GM Kevyn Adams had invested significant draft capital, term, and extension dollars in. The Sabres had also just made him an alternate captain.
While a serious roster shake-up was warranted, trading Cozens wasn’t a decision that was going to take the team in a competitive direction — especially considering what they got in return.
It was no secret that acquiring Josh Norris from the Senators came with some serious risk. Despite putting up impressive offensive numbers, he’s never played more than 70 games in a season.
He’s dealt with a long list of injuries that have resulted in three shoulder surgeries since 2019, along with an oblique injury that sidelined him for the last month of the 2024-25 season.
While the swap of Norris and Cozens brought change, it didn’t necessarily bring growth. It’s these types of reactionary trades that can set a team back years in their development, mistaking activity for improvement.
Also acquired by Buffalo in this trade was defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker. The Sabres didn’t even give a qualifying offer to him this summer once his contract expired, leading to him signing with a divisional opponent in the Detroit Red Wings on July 1.
While it’s unlikely that Bernard-Docker develops into a player that the Sabres regret letting walk away, it begs the question – why even acquire him in the first place?
Considering he’s only 25 years old, was a former first-round pick, and was a right-handed shot on a Sabres blueline filled with lefties, it felt strange not to let him have a longer stint with the club.
In the end, the Cozens trade feels less like a clear plan and more like another moment of uncertainty in Buffalo’s long rebuild. Until there’s a true commitment to building around the pieces they’ve already invested in, this directionless cycle may continue to define the franchise for years to come.
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