Will Cozens Ever Return To Form?

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

Did Cozens peak early? I'm a big believer of a player (typically) peaking about age 25-26. It's around that age you know what you have in them. Cozens will be TWENTY FOUR already this upcoming February. Usually at that age forwards have a decent bump in their production.

Was his usage his first few years unsustainable with too much o-zone time and taught him bad habits?

Ultimately, the question is, is the best of Cozens yet to come? Or did he truly peak in his early twenties? That's considered rare and if we're stuck with his 7 mil contract we might be pretty fkd- yet- PLD has a 8.5 mil salary and was traded in a underperforming player swap. 7 mil will be like 5.5 mil in 3-4 years so maybe it's not too bad if we really need to get out of his contract to sign the other guys?

Am I overreacting based on a small sample size of last season and a few games?

Am I losing my mind?

Will Buffalo ever have a championship?

Will this be the anti-jynx thread Cozens needs to really get going? Will he have 10 pts. in 5 games after this thread?


WILL COZENS EVER RETURN TO FORM?

Discuss.

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[buffalowing88]

I think the illusion that he had a nice offensive ceiling was just a product of that 22-23 season and not Cozens himself. He's just not as sharp offensively as guys he's been compared to. So I don't know that he's going to be a regular 65-70 point guy year-in-year-out anymore.

But I have to think he's still going to have a solid career. He seems to have the character of a guy who will work on his game instead of coasting through off-seasons. Maybe more of a Drew Stafford-type level of production than what I had initially anticipated, though.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

The right path for Cozens was to learn the game from the wing, and see if one day he could handle the defensive side of being a C, and being more physical as he got older and bigger. A Sabres GM CONSTANTLY finds a way to fark up the development of good young player. Cozens is still worth keeping and waiting on, but in a lesser role with less pressure to be more than he is right now. To do that, a couple Cs now have to be slotted above their level. Same shit different year.

 

[MOGlLNY]

I don't think Cozens has the hockey iq to be a high end center.

 

[Fjordy]

Maybe he'll do well on the wing, not sure about playing in the centre.

 

[Irie]

Cozens will be fine.

Right now he has a lot running through his head as he is processing the positioning of both his teammates and his opponents. Happens to most young centers at the NHL level when they are asked to read the ice instead of just do a set job within the system.

When young players are processing instead of reacting, you get what is going on with Cozens currently. He is 23. Countless all star players didn't even play their first NHL game until they were his age in the history of the NHL, just for some perspective.

This is the reason I disagreed with Granato's philosophy of "build confidence on the offensive side by letting them freewheel out there before installing discipline and responsibility - it leads to bad habits and is the wrong development path. Young guys should gain that offensive confidence in lower leagues while also developing their on ice awareness and defensive discipline.

At some point, the reads should become instinctual, and then Cozens will start to play on reaction again, and he will "arrive".

These growing pains are super common around young centers. Writing him off already as a finished project is crazy.

 

[Dreakon13]

My problem with Cozens is that even in 22-23 I never quite understood what he was "good at". If he becomes the all star player we hope he can, what's his strength? His shot? His skating? His defense? I think I've seen people say the transition, but this season isn't helping to solidify that thought in any way.

So I'm not really sure what a return to form looks like for him, to say if he can ever return to it. All I can say is that he's gotta be better than this lol

 

[jc17]

Agreeing with others, cozens never really looked the part of 70 point center even as he did it. I don't think he's gotten worse just combo of bad luck and different situations.

Pucks will start going in for him, his shot is decent and he does have some skill so he'll get assists too. Some people in Twitter will go on about his stone hands, but its more that he overestimates his own ability and picks bad times to try to use them.

Idk I don't watch him now and think "I need more", it's usually "please do less".

I think the change to wing might be a decent shakeup but I still feel that longterm he could be a strong 2 way center if he commits to it.

 

[Ace]

Again…we need to normalize that his form was never the one contract year he shot way above his normal percentage. He's closer to form now than he was that year.

 

[BFLO]

I think 2022-23 was an outlier for Cozens and not "his form". He went on a mega hot streak from Nov 4th to Jan 7th, approximately 2 months, where he put up 31 points in 27 games, or 94 point pace. He put up 37 points the other 52 games that season, or 58 point pace.

I think "his form" is closer to a 58 point 2C. He's having a bad and unlucky start this season.

58 point 2c is perfectly acceptable, as long as they are good defensively.... which Cozens is not.

 

[K8fool]

Did Cozens peak early? I'm a big believer of a player (typically) peaking about age 25-26. It's around that age you know what you have in them. Cozens will be TWENTY FOUR already this upcoming February. Usually at that age forwards have a decent bump in their production.

Was his usage his first few years unsustainable with too much o-zone time and taught him bad habits?

Ultimately, the question is, is the best of Cozens yet to come? Or did he truly peak in his early twenties? That's considered rare and if we're stuck with his 7 mil contract we might be pretty fkd- yet- PLD has a 8.5 mil salary and was traded in a underperforming player swap. 7 mil will be like 5.5 mil in 3-4 years so maybe it's not too bad if we really need to get out of his contract to sign the other guys?

Am I overreacting based on a small sample size of last season and a few games?

Am I losing my mind?

Will Buffalo ever have a championship?

Will this be the anti-jynx thread Cozens needs to really get going? Will he have 10 pts. in 5 games after this thread?


WILL COZENS EVER RETURN TO FORM?

Discuss.

he lost his swagger after his beat down , we'll see when he gets it back , I think it's simpler than many seem to think

I think 2022-23 was an outlier for Cozens and not "his form". He went on a mega hot streak from Nov 4th to Jan 7th, approximately 2 months, where he put up 31 points in 27 games, or 94 point pace. He put up 37 points the other 52 games that season, or 58 point pace.

I think "his form" is closer to a 58 point 2C. He's having a bad and unlucky start this season.

58 point 2c is perfectly acceptable, as long as they are good defensively.... which Cozens is not.

obviously the team staff and ka disagree considering his contract he's still young piling on and not believing in him should have some effect he'll need to overcome

 

[SundherDome]

He is better when he is engaged. He changed since Hathaway. He needs to get back to using his speed to get in on pucks and go get some dirty goals in front of the net. It seems he has an illusion that he can dangle and snipe, that's not his game. Put him on the wing and tell him to bull rush to the net. Take some PP time away but he needs to understand his role.

 

[BFLO]

he lost his swagger after his beat down , we'll see when he gets it back , I think it's simpler than many seem to think


obviously the team staff and ka disagree considering his contract he's still young piling on and not believing in him should have some effect he'll need to overcome

No.

Before the Hathaway fight he was on pace for 52 points that season. The fight hurt him for about a month. And then he was back on a 53 point pace the remainder of the season. He finished the season with 47 points.

He's been a ~55point player for the past 3 years aside from the 2 months where he get hot and put up huge numbers and the 1 month where he was injured from the fight. That's who he is.

Could he still take another step up? Sure. It took Mitts until year 6 to finally break out, and it took Reinhart until year 9 to become a star.

 

[Fezzy126]

I'm extremely bullish on Cozens with his attitude and style of play. I still don't think surrounding him with other kids that are also struggling adjusting to Ruff is going to help get him on track though.

The kid produces at Worlds whether he's playing wing or center, the biggest difference is that he gets to play with good NHL quality vets.

 

[K8fool]

No.

Before the Hathaway fight he was on pace for 52 points that season. The fight hurt him for about a month. And then he was back on a 53 point pace the remainder of the season. He finished the season with 47 points.

He's been a ~55point player for the past 3 years aside from the 2 months where he get hot and put up huge numbers and the 1 month where he was injured from the fight. That's who he is.

Could he still take another step up? Sure. It took Mitts until year 6 to finally break out, and it took Reinhart until year 9 to become a star.

interesting.
the eye test to me but your stats... I'm not arguing just musing if you are right he may never break out again if he was impacted by that he could lose that hesitation/fear and go back to 22

well, when was the fight , wasn't it early in the year . .. small sample etc , bad start , training camp for whole entitled group

what were his stats prior and post mitts , maybe it's multiple issues as he faced better competition w mitts no longer shading the young line


his shot sucks after, any shot percentage stats for his success season and subsequently etc add shot maps guys is he shooting farther away

 

[Fjordy]

I'm extremely bullish on Cozens with his attitude and style of play. I still don't think surrounding him with other kids that are also struggling adjusting to Ruff is going to help get him on track though.

The kid produces at Worlds whether he's playing wing or center, the biggest difference is that he gets to play with good NHL quality vets.

I'm not sure if the World Championship is an indicator, there are players there who play very well, but some of them can't even play in the NHL. I'm not saying that's specifically about Cozens, I'm just not sure that should be an indicator. But I agree that maybe Cozens needs to be surrounded by good veterans, and we need to figure out whether he's a center or a winger.

 

[K8fool]

He is better when he is engaged. He changed since Hathaway. He needs to get back to using his speed to get in on pucks and go get some dirty goals in front of the net. It seems he has an illusion that he can dangle and snipe, that's not his game. Put him on the wing and tell him to bull rush to the net. Take some PP time away but he needs to understand his role.

this is a pretty big deal for this team to figure out why , kid you all figure this out

Quinn and his injuries etc

but cozens;
if BFLO is correct he probably needs a trade

dies anyone here know if his hit percentage and shot distance changed after Hathaway fight

No.

Before the Hathaway fight he was on pace for 52 points that season. The fight hurt him for about a month. And then he was back on a 53 point pace the remainder of the season. He finished the season with 47 points.

He's been a ~55point player for the past 3 years aside from the 2 months where he get hot and put up huge numbers and the 1 month where he was injured from the fight. That's who he is.

Could he still take another step up? Sure. It took Mitts until year 6 to finally break out, and it took Reinhart until year 9 to become a star.

when was he extended?

 

[Sabre the Win]

They won't trade Cozens until we get a new GM who has no attachment to any of these players and full control away from Pegula.

Buckle in boys, we are stuck here in misery for many more years.

My hope is when his daughter takes control she is hands off.

 

[TageGod]

Cozens is just a north south player and is suited for the wing. That is not to say he can't eventually excel at center with time. He often hits big goal droughts. He could score 10 in the next 6 games and then go quiet for 10 more games; it is just what he does.

 

[Fearnot]

Zemgus production, Taylor Hall(When he was here) effort is his ceiling.