Player Discussion Dylan Cozens, C/RW, 2019 7th overall Part 2

[TageGod]

Most players aren’t so fragile.

He only started playing better once they were basically out of the playoffs, under significantly reduced pressure and expectations. Fans barely even show up anymore, so now he can finally play well.

What happens when playoff expectations are back next year? We might have to waste an entire other season next year just to find out.

Sure twist an obvious situation into your narrative. a 22 year old struggling with pressure? shocking. He has been good for what, 8 games now? They weren't and aren't out of the playoffs, not sure if you know math.

 

[KeyserSoze81]

Sure twist an obvious situation into your narrative. a 22 year old struggling with pressure? shocking. He has been good for what, 8 games now? They weren't and aren't out of the playoffs, not sure if you know math.

Funniest thing I've read all week. You are busy throwing stones at people for not acknowledging a 5% chance to make the playoffs... God bless you if you can still watch this team play hockey and think that they are capable of making a run while having the 6th worst record in hockey as we approach mid February.

 

[TageGod]

Funniest thing I've read all week. You are busy throwing stones at people for not acknowledging a 5% chance to make the playoffs... God bless you if you can still watch this team play hockey and think that they are capable of making a run while having the 6th worst record in hockey as we approach mid February.

Stating a fact is funny? How am I throwing stones for stating they weren't out of the playoffs when Cozens started getting back to form? Does anyone think a single player in that room actually thinks they are out of it? I don't.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Stating a fact is funny? How am I throwing stones for stating they weren't out of the playoffs when Cozens started getting back to form? Does anyone think a single player in that room actually thinks they are out of it? I don't.

They were out of the playoffs and you know it. If he’s too young to handle pressure, he’s too young for that contract.

 

[Dingo44]

 

[Tijuana Donkey Show]

He is not a center. He does not see the play well enough to make those on his line better. Put him on the wing in a power forward role and he will be fine.

I sort of agree with this. The thing is as a 2C he is good value. As a 3C he is bad value. And as a RW he would be the 11th highest paid. Which is OK, but right now I am not sure he is even great over there.

I have am pretty down on Cozens at the moment. And he has gotten a lot of preferential line treatment specifically geared towards getting him going. He has not been our second best center this year. And if we didn't somehow have a shortage of bottom 6 players, he likely wouldn't be our 3th best this year either.

 

[Tijuana Donkey Show]

Didn't seem to be an issue when he had Quinn on his wing. I'm kind of curious as to how much effect Quinn had on his game.

At the risk of sounding snarky, (healthy) Quinn and Peterka were maybe our best wing pairs this season. Cozens got to play with them by default because Mitts can unlock something in Greenway and whoever else he plays with this year.

Cozens has been given a lot of help to overcome his yips. A little time at wing. He has centered every line on the roster at some point this year. He just hasn't been able to find his way with any other pairing than the best pairing.

 

[Tijuana Donkey Show]

Peterka-Cozens-Quinn is like the optimal line in theory and was proved in practice last year. I’m new to being a fully-fledged Sabres fan, but that simply has to be a line that you build everyone else on the roster around.

I hate this because it's base purpose is to protect Cozens and the perception of his contract and a 2C on this team. And right now it his spot on the depth chart and his contract are waaaaay over valued.

JJP has been effective with everybody this season. Likely our best winger or close to it. Quinn came back and outshined almost the entire forward group in just a few weeks time. He can also play with anybody.

I get trying to get a player going and working the mojo of all the lines. But where do you draw the line between getting "the right lines' and "putting together the right lines for Dylan"?

Because JJP will be lights out with Tommers and Mitts. So will Quinn. We have see that both Benson and Tuch can play good hockey with both those centers as well. Greenway has been good across the line up when needed.

Everybody is filling in at a reasonable level with our top 2 centers. But not with Dylan Cozens. Those lines totally stalls when he is the C. Unless of course it is JJP and Quinn. And you want to build an entire team around that? It is a lifejacket not a foundation right now.

 

[Mattilaus]

Sure twist an obvious situation into your narrative. a 22 year old struggling with pressure? shocking. He has been good for what, 8 games now? They weren't and aren't out of the playoffs, not sure if you know math.

I mean his post specifically says "Basically" out of the playoffs. You wouldn't agree they are basically out of the race? If you think having a 5% chance to making the playoffs doesn't mean they are basically out of it then maybe math isn't the issue here.

For the record, I am also not done with Cozens, but i will say his performance this year has been unfortunate. I like the idea of trying him on the wing for a stretch.

 

[CaliSabresfan24]

Disappointing season from Cozens to say the least... Hopefully the kid has a productive offseason and comes back to form but man the season just needs to end for him.

 

[Gabrielor]

Not much you can do aside from hope his pride snaps him out of it.

I've been reactionary on guys' bad years before, and if there's anything this group has shown, it's don't rush to judgment (Tage, Mitts, UPL, Bryson, Dahlin-krueger-effect, some of the Power takes).

I'll wait on Krebs, Cozens, Byram.

 

[Chainshot]

I still think the worst thing was him coming out of last season with the thought he can score 40 in this league.

 

[Beerz]

Bad year... I think he will rebound.

Needs to learn he is not a dangler and dump the puck and go get it.

 

[Ace]

A winger who has to think too much playing center so he stands there trying to figure it out. Whose only success came with Jack Quinn driving play from wing and shooting hilariously higher shooting percentage than he ever has. And a man who is very very lucky his GM is too dumb to figure out any of it

 

[Dingo44]

 

[joshjull]

Bad year... I think he will rebound.

Needs to learn he is not a dangler and dump the puck and go get it.

He was definitely in his head/overthinking things way too much.

It didn’t help having his face broken either. It really seemed to rattle his confidence in his physical game.

 

[Tatanka]

I think he needs to embrace a lock down/ match up role. He has enough skill speed that he will rack up points at a respectable level even if he focuses more on negating the oppositions top threats. He can do that from either w or c. But I do not get the impression KA plans on bringing in anyone to challenge him at c.

 

[buffalowing88]

He was definitely in his head/overthinking things way too much.

It didn’t help having his face broken either. It really seemed to rattle his confidence in his physical game.

Yeah, the face injury from that fight was really detrimental to him mentally and physically. I thought he turned things around quite a bit at the end and still have plenty of faith in him moving forward, though.

 

[Matt Ress]

I think he needs to embrace a lock down/ match up role. He has enough skill speed that he will rack up points at a respectable level even if he focuses more on negating the oppositions top threats. He can do that from either w or c. But I do not get the impression KA plans on bringing in anyone to challenge him at c.

I agree. Keep playing defense and making smart decisions with the puck and go to the damn net. Prime net front presence guy especially if he has JJ and Quinn buzzing around the O zone.

 

[dire wolf]

I think he'll be fine. The negative comments about him this year were way over the top. My guess is that the injury, the big contract, the team's general mediocre play, and Quinn's injury all combined to screw him up this year. With his speed and shot, he should not be just a "lockdown guy." He should be a scorer. But I agree he needs to keep his game simple and stay away from the fancy stuff.

 

[HOOats]

Feels necessary to insert into the record that he was one of our worst forwards in the ten games before THE FIGHT. He lucked into a couple of goals that buoyed some opinions of him, but his game was broken from the jump this season. I understand the urge to pin his struggles on the injury and it certainly didn't allow him to correct his course in a timely manner, but it wasn't the cause.

He had maybe six encouraging weeks when the rest of the team was showing life around February that give me hope that he can get back to what he does well moving forward.

 

[Dingo44]

I really liked what Cozens had to say and I'm very confident he'll have an excellent 2024-25 season.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

I really liked what Cozens had to say and I'm very confident he'll have an excellent 2024-25 season.

Honestly, has wasn't really a problem the last few months. He'll always make boneheaded decisions periodically but I think he almost played up to the contract once UPL started getting hot. He just needs some support and can't be relied on to be the only center who takes key faceoffs and play defense on this roster. A good 3C (not Krebs) will make him look much better.

 

[Dingo44]

Five Canadians making their case for the Olympics and 4 Nations teams at worlds

Olympic GM Doug Armstrong is among the Hockey Canada personnel who have watched games live in Prague to gather intel for future rosters.

www.nytimes.com

Dylan Cozens
You probably won’t find his name on any projected Team Canada roster anywhere, and it’s easy to understand why coming off an 18-goal, 47-point season for the Buffalo Sabres — tying him for the 56th most points among Canadian skaters.

Except it would be unwise to look past Cozens entirely given the ridiculously high level he plays at whenever he pulls on a Canadian sweater.

The 23-year-old center has been a major driver in Prague, scoring a tournament-leading eight goals, including a short-handed overtime strike against Czechia, while playing meaningful minutes in all situations.

“What’s his ceiling?” Tourigny said. “We’re still looking for it.”

There’s a high level of trust between coach and player given that this is their fifth international tournament working together, dating back to the Hlinka Gretzky Cup under-18 event in 2019.

Cozens has been a standout on basically all of those national teams, and he’s now up to 15 goals in 18 career games at the World Championship. In a best-on-best scenario, he’d likely be slotted down the lineup, which is why his size, competitiveness and penalty-killing abilities would all be viewed as positive attributes.

In Prague, however, he’s been doing it all for Canada.

“He’s playing PK, he’s playing power play, he’s playing big minutes,” said Tourigny. “For me, he’s a competitor, he’s a guy who wants to be a game-breaker, wants to be a difference-maker. When you give him the opportunity he can do it.”

 

[Dingo44]

As a reminder, Cozens was named to the six man All Tournament Team.