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Senators’ Cozens excited to return to Buffalo to face Sabres
Dylan Cozens is loving life as an Ottawa Senator after his time in Buffalo didn’t end the way he envisioned.
Dylan Cozens is loving life as an Ottawa Senator after his time in Buffalo didn’t end the way he envisioned.
Cozens will return to Buffalo to face the Sabres on Tuesday, less than three weeks after a big trade on deadline day.
“I thought I was going to be there for a long time,” Cozens, 24, told reporters in Ottawa on Monday. “I thought I was going to be a part of the solution. I dreamt every day about turning things around there and being a successful team and what it would be like. Obviously, it didn’t work out and it is what it is. But I’m happy to be here and I’m very happy to be a Senator.”
The Sabres, on their way to missing the playoffs for a 14th year in a row, decided to shake up their core at the deadline, sending Cozens to the Senators in a multi-player deal that saw fellow forward Josh Norris go to Buffalo.
Picked seventh overall by the Sabres in 2019, Cozens broke out in 2022-23 for 68 points (31 goals, 37 assists) in 68 games. The Sabres rewarded him with a seven-year, $49.7-million contract extension in February 2023, but the Whitehorse native couldn’t match his offensive production in ensuing seasons in Buffalo.
Things have turned around individually and team-wise in Ottawa, where Cozens has three goals and four assists in eight games for a Senators team that sits in the first wild-card position in the Eastern Conference. Norris, meanwhile, is out with an undisclosed injury.
“It’s a great group here. Everyone has welcomed me with open arms and it’s been easy to fit in,” Cozens said.
Cozens is looking forward to going back to his first pro hockey home.
“I’m excited,” he said. “It’s going to be a little weird for sure. But I’m going to try not to overthink it. At the end of the day, it’s just another game and a big two points we need.”
Sabres fans now fear Cozens having his best success on another team, just like Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Ryan O’Reilly before him during this prolonged playoff drought.
