In case you haven’t heard, the Buffalo Sabres are a bit of a mess. After yet another rough season, the trade rumors around their current group are starting to pick up as we inch closer to the deadline breaking on the horizon.
One of the more interesting names to emerge is the soon-to-be 24-year-old forward Dylan Cozens. He’s in his fifth NHL season and has been riding the struggle bus lately, with just 13 points in 31 games for the Sabres.
So should the Flyers be sniffing around Dylan Cozens? Let’s weigh the options.
Pros
He has upside
Cozens is a bit lost in the woods at the moment on a team that has been trapped in purgatory for a decade, but it wasn’t all that long ago where he posted a 31-goal, 68-point season in 2022-23. Line him up between Travis Konecny and/or Matvei Michkov and see if there’s a spark to be had.
He’s a Prototypical Flyer™
A 6’3, 207lb physical center is right up the alley of the Philadelphia Flyers. Not only does that pander to the boomers, but if he could actually turn his game around and be a full-time center capable of eclipsing 30 goals a season, it’d be a huge check mark off the organizational wishlist.
The Sabres curse
Is Cozens struggling right now? Yes. But has there been a decent track record of players that came and left Buffalo before him that went on to have success with their new team? Also yes. Not to say the Flyers are world beaters at the moment, but just about any situation is better than playing in Buffalo.
Cons
Can he play center?
The entire reason the Flyers should be interested in Cozens is that he’s a center… or is he? He’s spent quite a bit of time at right wing over the last year or so because he can’t handle the responsibility of the position. The Flyers don’t need another random winger or a hanger on at C. Even if Cozens isn’t a true top guy, they need him to play center and he may just be cut out for it.
His contract
Cozens’ diminished play means his acquisition is a gamble. And with a $7.1 million cap hit for five more years, that’s a big risk to take for a Flyers club that isn’t exactly rolling in cash these days. Any trade would have to shift some cash around, but trading, say, Farabee and his $5 million cap hit for three more years for Cozens at $7.1 million for five more years just to get more or less the same player isn’t the monetary disaster the Flyers need right now.
What are the Sabres looking for in a return?
Thinking that Danny Briere and the Flyers are going to go all in on Cozens a few weeks after they were openly terrified about paying pocket change for David Jiricek is pretty tough to believe. But Kevyn Adams and the Sabres haven’t exactly been on the winning end of many trades lately. So maybe there’s a scenario here where the Flyers can swoop in and pay less-than-premium for Cozens. But the trade rumor mill suggests there are many teams already sniffing around, so the idea that Briere can get away with a lowball offer is probably a fallacy.
Conclusion
Cozens is one of the more intriguing names to hit the rumor mill in quite some time. The promise and potential of a bigger-bodied center mixed with the current struggles that both he and the team are marred in make the risk of giving up assets to acquire him a much larger question mark than it should be.
Reading through various social media posts from the perspective of Sabres fans has been a bit of an eye-opening experience when it comes to the general feeling around Dylan Cozens these days. Which is to say, it’s not a great vibe. He’s struggling to produce offensively, his two-way game is beyond rough and he’s having trouble holding down a center position. Those aren’t exactly assets the Flyers should be looking for these days, or the kind of assets that would be good for John Tortorella’s blood pressure.
But maybe the structure the Flyers play with can turn some of his weaknesses around and the offense will follow. But do you want to take that kind of risk for a player making seven million a season for the next five years? If the Flyers are once again going to put premium money into a player, they actually need one of them to play like a premium player, and Cozens may or may not be the guy.
There is reason to believe Cozens has uspide, however. He did post a 31-goal, 68-point season in 2022-23… but has not hit 20 goals in his other three NHL seasons (and isn’t on pace to do it this year either) and has only broken the 40-point mark one other time in 2023-24. If he can harness whatever it was he had going for him at his peak, adding a consistent 30-goal center would be atop the Flyers’ wishlist, but is that one season just the outlier and not the norm?
Heres’ the thing- if the Flyers are going to add Cozens they need him to play center. They don’t need another 40-point winger. They need a center. If they can’t guarantee that, it may be best to just avoid Cozens entirely.
There’s another player that has been in the rumor mill for quite some time and that’s Trevor Zegras. Despite the physical size and stylistic differences between the two, they’re in a similar boat for the Flyers as trade targets. Younger players that have shown potential, have some tangible success in the past, but are impaired by the struggles of their respective team and haven’t been able to hold down the center position they’re supposed to be playing, as both have spent time on the wings.
The key for the Flyers is simple. Even if Briere sacks up and actually makes a trade, Cozens can’t be their only play to address the center depth this summer. It’s just too large of a risk to acquire him and call it an offseason. If they pick up Cozens and also add Marco Rossi from Minnesota for example, then they’re cooking with gas. Not only does it make the addition of Cozens less make-or-break, but it also gives him a better chance to succeed as second fiddle here rather than being thrown into the deep end by himself.
And a lot of this depends on what exactly the Sabres are looking for in a trade. They have picks and prospects leaking out their ears, so it’s hard to imagine they’d settle for a few draft picks. If they’re looking for a main roster swap to attempt to turn their NHL image around now, the Flyers have more than enough bodies to carve out a deal that is relatively painless from an asset perspective.
The ball is firmly in Danny Briere’s court to prove he’s capable of making upgrades to the roster. And Dylan Cozens poses a fascinating option for the Flyers’ front office to consider as the March 7 trade deadline date draws near. But would the risk be worth the reward? Only time will tell.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
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