Dylan Cozens Appreciation Thread

[Thorner]

39 minutes ago, Ruff Around The Edges said:

Watching and listening to Dylan Cozens puts me so much more at ease about thinking about the idea that the Sabres could/should trade Jack Eichel.

Very confident in Cozens and his abilities and can easily see him as the face and leader of this franchise.

Imagine what the Sabres could get for Eichel to build the pieces around Cozens.

I am 100000000000 percent on board with this.

Best way to build around Cozens is to give him what Eichel lacked - proper insulation. Proper expectation - Cozens might have what it takes to be an NHL centre some day, to my knowledge he hasn’t played a game there yet, and may even be a 1C down the line, he may even excel. 

But if he’s our 2C cause Jack’s in the 1C spot, the *team* will assuredly excel. Tampa kept Stamkos when they got Point, etc

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Last Eichel Fan

[Cal Naughton Jr]

7 minutes ago, Last Eichel Fan said:

Best way to build around Cozens is to give him what Eichel lacked - proper insulation. Proper expectation - Cozens might have what it takes to be an NHL centre some day, to my knowledge he hasn’t played a game there yet, and may even be a 1C down the line, he may even excel. 

But if he’s our 2C cause Jack’s in the 1C spot, the *team* will assuredly excel. Tampa kept Stamkos when they got Point, etc

 

Eichel was literally brought in to be the savior of the franchise. Hasn’t worked out. I’m not blaming him at all but Cozens doesn’t have that weight on his shoulders. I’m just worried about the coaching. I really believe Krueger is in over his head

[IKnowPhysics]

34 minutes ago, Weave said:

Yeah, anyone still raving about our annual new toy hasn’t learned their lessons.

 

[Thorner]

19 minutes ago, Cal Naughton Jr said:

Eichel was literally brought in to be the savior of the franchise. Hasn’t worked out. I’m not blaming him at all but Cozens doesn’t have that weight on his shoulders. I’m just worried about the coaching. I really believe Krueger is in over his head

If we deal Eichel, Cozens is the face of our “centre” spine and future scoring unit, though. Pressure, and by necessity expectation goes way up once in that role, and teams now have Big D as their prime focus 

Krueger is very worrying agree 

Edited March 3, 2021 by Last Eichel Fan

[jad1]

Just now, Last Eichel Fan said:

If we deal Eichel, Cozens is the face of our “centre” spine and future scoring unit, though. Pressure, and by necessity expectation goes way up once teams now have Big D as their prime focus 

If the Pegulas cannot find a coach, don't doubt that in a couple of years Cozens will be ridden out on a rail too.

O'Reilly driven out in favor of Housely and Botterill. 

Eichel driven out in favor of Adams and Krueger.

Cozens driven out in favor of the stick boy internally promoted to GM and the national Swedish Lacrosse team vice president hired as coach.

[Cal Naughton Jr]

10 minutes ago, Last Eichel Fan said:

If we deal Eichel, Cozens is the face of our “centre” spine and future scoring unit, though. Pressure, and by necessity expectation goes way up once in that role, and teams now have Big D as their prime focus 

Krueger is very worrying agree 

Well there’s also a very good chance that we’ll be drafting top 5 in the next draft, so he won’t have to carry the burden alone...

[Thorner]

16 minutes ago, Cal Naughton Jr said:

Well there’s also a very good chance that we’ll be drafting top 5 in the next draft, so he won’t have to carry the burden alone...

[Cal Naughton Jr]

5 minutes ago, Last Eichel Fan said:

[Carmel Corn]

There is nothing I don't like about this kid!  I wish I (and he) could hear how LOUD last night would have sounded in front of a packed house at home in Key Bank.

Edited March 4, 2021 by Carmel Corn

[GASabresIUFAN]

It's kind of sad when the 19 year old rookie is the only player on the team with a spine.  

[Doohicksie]

Things that make me happy as a Sabres fan:

1. When a Sabre scores.  Well, not really, because we know that even when they score, they don't win.
2. When the Sabres win.  Well, not really, because we know they're already out of the playoff race.
3. When Dylan Cozens kicks someone's ass. 

See, I love when a Sabre wins a fight precisely because it doesn't directly affect the game.  There isn't that feeling that it's just a waste of effort.  There's only catharsis.  Because really, isn't that why any of us watches sports?  Catharsis?

[Indabuff]

Give him the C, nobody else deserves it.  I was thinking the guy still trying to sell the foam #1 fingers outside of the arena last week was a shoo-in but I think Cozens edged him out.

[LGR4GM]

6 hours ago, Last Eichel Fan said:

If we deal Eichel, Cozens is the face of our “centre” spine and future scoring unit, though. Pressure, and by necessity expectation goes way up once in that role, and teams now have Big D as their prime focus 

Krueger is very worrying agree 

If we deal eichel, Cozens is the entire center spine. There's nothing else. 

[pi2000]

51 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

If we deal eichel, Cozens is the entire center spine. There's nothing else. 

One would assume any Eichel deal would include an established center and center prospect.... but we're talking about the Sabres, so....

[Thorner]

1 hour ago, pi2000 said:

One would assume any Eichel deal would include an established center and center prospect.... but we're talking about the Sabres, so....

I can hear it now - an Eichel trade to address “depth” 

Couple with some picks 

[LaPerreausek]

12 hours ago, Cal Naughton Jr said:

 

- People who are mad that he fought last night 

Wait..there's people mad that he got in a fight ??? Why ????

[Carmel Corn]

9 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

If we deal eichel, Cozens is the entire center spine. There's nothing else. 

I would hate to see this team return back to the 2011 or 2012 era where we were pretty weak up the middle.  Draft picks in return won't fix the gap in the short term.  Drafting two centers in the first round did not fix things (Grigorenko and Zemgus).  

[LGR4GM]

25 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

I would hate to see this team return back to the 2011 or 2012 era where we were pretty weak up the middle.  Draft picks in return won't fix the gap in the short term.  Drafting two centers in the first round did not fix things (Grigorenko and Zemgus).  

There aren't 2 centers in this upcoming draft that I think will fix it either. You would need to wait until 2022 to get them. 

If you trade Eichel, which is a bad idea, you need to get a center that is 22 or younger and is a can't miss. Zegras for example. 

[Cal Naughton Jr]

6 hours ago, LaPerreausek said:

Wait..there's people mad that he got in a fight ??? Why ????

 

It’s pretty mind blowing 

[Stoner]

34 minutes ago, Cal Naughton Jr said:

 

It’s pretty mind blowing 

Not yours though, of course. Just Dylan's.

[inkman]

14 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

It's kind of sad when the 19 year old rookie is the only player on the team with a spine.  

You’d think someone in charge of acquiring players, through the draft, trades or free agency would see this issue and address it likewise.   Sigh.  

[SDS]

8 hours ago, LaPerreausek said:

Wait..there's people mad that he got in a fight ??? Why ????

 

1 hour ago, Cal Naughton Jr said:

 

It’s pretty mind blowing 

Cal is on a hot streak. 

This mainly concerns me and I’m not mad at all. It’s just a strawman argument. But forgive Cal because he gets a lot wrong.

Now that it is 2021, I would like to see the last remaining professional league punish fighting like every other sports league in the world. I don’t think it is inherent that the game of hockey requires people to punch other people, regardless of who enjoys it.
 

2nd, I vehemently disagree that an act that who’s frequency is already down 80-90% has any of the grandiose affects attributed to it. It has been proven those benefits don’t exist, and the coaches and the players, whom already moved away from this on their own, have agreed by phasing it out through their coaching and player selection. 

3rd, what I haven’t said before, but it is worth pointing out, is that with fighting effective removed in most every level except the NHL, it is more dangerous. Players user to throw their helmets off to protect each other’s hands. Go watch the video of your #7 draft choice repeatedly pounding his right fist into a solid helmet and let me know if that’s intelligent. 

I’m not mad. I have a philosophy on sports/life and I’ve accepted the evolution of the game, which moved away from this stuff long ago. 

[LTS]

The fight aside, the way Dylan Cozens is playing the game right now is what excites me about him.  In that same game, and I believe Marty pointed it out in intermission, he carried the puck in the zone while the team made a line change.  He protected the puck, waited, and then made a play to continue the offensive zone attack.

He's patient out there.  The only reason he's not at the top of this team right now is his lacking in physical ability and that's not his fault. He's young.  When he's not losing out because of his strength, he's absolutely what you want to see on this team.

I will say this. Jack Eichel went out and threw some hits after that fight. The team really did pour the pressure on the Rangers after it.  It's not really the fight, but the emotional aftermath that really matters. I think you could get some players who make big hits or just wear down the opponent like the Islanders Identity line of Cizikas, Martin, and Clutterbuck.  That line goes out on the ice and just sets the tone for the rest of the team to follow. They physically wear opponents out.

The Sabres don't have that and they need it.  Sheahan and Girgensons could be the foundation of it.  They had it, somewhat, last year with the LOG line.  I'm not sold Girgensons is the physical player that's needed.

So, you take the emotion of a kid like Cozens who's already know for his work ethic.  He went out and set a tone that basically said, "We can play physical. Enough of this crap."  The team responded.  I think we'll see more of it.  It demonstrates the attitude they need.  It worked.  You don't want him fighting in many games, but you want players out there setting the attitude of the team.

I'm not gonna go all Cozens for Captain yet as that puts a lot on his shoulders. But he can certainly lead by example and let others follow along like they did Tuesday.

[Thorner]

^Cozens was the 7th pick. OCD will point that out every time

- - - 

McDavid broke his hand fighting his draft year. Don't think he has fought since. My personal preference is also for there to be no fighting. 

For the record I'm not sure anyone was "mad" Cozens got in a fight. As mentioned I only took issue with it relative to what I perceived was a double standard in regards to Jack and his "fight" (which I do count as one for all intents and purposes). 

Anyways, at the very least we can all agree it bodes well for Dylan's mentality. 

Edited March 4, 2021 by Thorny

[Randall Flagg]

1 minute ago, LTS said:

The fight aside, the way Dylan Cozens is playing the game right now is what excites me about him.  In that same game, and I believe Marty pointed it out in intermission, he carried the puck in the zone while the team made a line change.  He protected the puck, waited, and then made a play to continue the offensive zone attack.

I give a round of applause when Sabres players do this. So many times, a forward about to head off on a change has a wide open defenseman standing at their faceoff dot with no one else in the zone, and rather than give him the puck, go change, and hit the attack with fresh skaters, we instead hand it to the OPPONENT's defenseman before peeling off to change anyway. It's obviously a natural reaction to get it in deep, and sometimes it's the right choice (if the D need to change too), but when the option is there, keep the puck!