The Cozens Conundrum, 2024-25

[Pimlach]

18 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I've been watching Cozens lately to try to figure him out. I think ultimately his decision making is too slow. Whether he's hesitating out of a lack of confidence or he just thinks slow is hard to say but when he gets the puck he doesn't react and act instinctively, there's delays and pauses and it allows him to be defended easily. 

I think he could thrive on a slower more structured type of team but he might just be incapable of playing well in this sort of up tempo type of thing we seem to want to do in Buffalo. the cliche "not a good fit" would seem to apply. So unless we change our style (unlikely) it's probably best to trade him. 

So Ruff is playing the same style as Granato?  Is that what you see?  I don’t see that.  

I do see that Cozens is thinking and is not an instinctive player right now.  I see that he takes on a lot, and that pressure is a problem for him.    He can read and hear the news - the expectations for 7 years and $7 million.   Then he gets a A.  The team disappoints, he disappoints, and everything gets worse. 

For Dylan Cozens (and several other young Sabres), the failure of Kevyn Adams’ flawed rebuild is proving to be too much, too soon.  Judging his current game Cozens is a 3rd line winger with a 2nd line ceiling, yet he is playing 1C, 2C, and on PP2.   That is the way the roster is constructed.  

He will get blamed, and traded, and he will eventually have a good career somewhere else.  

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, Pimlach said:

So Ruff is playing the same style as Granato?  Is that what you see?  I don’t see that.  

I do see that Cozens is thinking and is not an instinctive player right now.  I see that he takes on a lot, and that pressure is a problem for him.    He can read and hear the news - the expectations for 7 years and $7 million.   Then he gets a A.  The team disappoints, he disappoints, and everything gets worse. 

For Dylan Cozens (and several other young Sabres), the failure of Kevyn Adams’ flawed rebuild is proving to be too much, too soon.  Judging his current game Cozens is a 3rd line winger with a 2nd line ceiling, yet he is playing 1C, 2C, and on PP2.   That is the way the roster is constructed.  

He will get blamed, and traded, and he will eventually have a good career somewhere else.  

I believe that wing is the best spot for him. He lacks the instinctiveness (my opinion) to play to his best level as a second-line center.  He has thrived in the international tournaments playing wing with quality centers. As you point, it is evident that his play and development have been crimped by the stress he is placing on himself. 

My fear is if dealt he will thrive with a team/organization that has a clue as to how to put players in position to grow and succeed. The situation in Buffalo is too dysfunctional for talented players to develop as well as they should. The owner by his irrational hires and tinkering has destroyed this once proud franchise and has severely eroded this once flourishing fanbase to the point of submission. Terry Pegula is the Danny Snyder of hockey without the sleazy personal behavior. This silent and clueless billionaire lacks the self-awareness to recognize what he has done. 

[Stoner]

Is anyone not concerned for his health? Do you not see him whiffing on shots?

[mjd1001]

I do think he can be acceptable at wing.  Take him off the PP and PK, give him 2nd or 3rd line wing minutes, make sure you put him with a Center who is good at carrying the puck into the zone. By doing all those things, you don't put Cozens in any situation he's not good at.   You aren't going to get a player this is worth $7m per year, but you might get a winger who scores, on average 20-25 goals and doesn't hurt you away from the puck as much as he does at Center.  You are getting a $5m player, but paying for a $7m one...but at least he won't be hurting you.

There is someone in this organization that will not allow that move to happen. Someone here wants him at Center, on PP and PK, and on the ice at the end of games.  Is it every coach he's ever had? Is it Adams? Is it Pegula?  I don't know. All I am convince of now is that the move to wing and off the PP is not happening in this organization.

The best thing for him, and the Sabres, is to move him and let him have that opportunity someplace else. 

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

So Ruff is playing the same style as Granato?  Is that what you see?  I don’t see that.  

I do see that Cozens is thinking and is not an instinctive player right now.  I see that he takes on a lot, and that pressure is a problem for him.    He can read and hear the news - the expectations for 7 years and $7 million.   Then he gets a A.  The team disappoints, he disappoints, and everything gets worse. 

For Dylan Cozens (and several other young Sabres), the failure of Kevyn Adams’ flawed rebuild is proving to be too much, too soon.  Judging his current game Cozens is a 3rd line winger with a 2nd line ceiling, yet he is playing 1C, 2C, and on PP2.   That is the way the roster is constructed.  

He will get blamed, and traded, and he will eventually have a good career somewhere else.  

I didn't say they play the same style. Not sure where you got that from but doesn't matter.

The hesitation in Cozens is definitely there and I said we can argue over the cause but he's hesitating all the same. Maybe another element is too many development years under Granato and he is having trouble doing X after years of Y type thing. That could be part of it. 

There's absolutely no question we have mismanaged assets and developed young players poorly. Always too much too soon and we "break" many of them and then somebody else fixes some of them after we ditch them or they move on. Lack of veteran leadership, constant changes, it's a mess. The young players we have should be better than they are. 

[Rhyno716]

Cozens needs to move to wing asap. When he plays in the world championships he always plays wing and he plays great. He never developed a complete game to play center in the top 6. That's what happens when to don't properly develop prospects and rush them to the NHL. Tage has the same problems but at least he scores.

If I remember correctly Reinhart struggled at center early in his career before moving to wing and then in 2021 he needed to go back to center because they had nobody left and he finally excelled due to his development.