Six trade destinations to watch for Buffalo Sabres’ Dylan Cozens

Credit: Dec 9, 2024; Buffalo, New York, USA; Buffalo Sabres center Dylan Cozens (24) looks to make a pass during the second period against the Detroit Red Wings at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images

With less two months until the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline March 7, we’re delivering at least one deadline-focused story every day at Daily Faceoff.

Today, we dig into potential landing spots if the Buffalo Sabres decide to trade center Dylan Cozens, who landed at No. 5 on Frank Seravalli’s DFO Trade Targets Board Tuesday.

2025 NHL Trade Deadline countdown: 58 days

Maybe we look back on 2024-25 as the year many teams decided they were fed up with failure. The NHL has five teams mired in playoff droughts of five years or longer at the moment, and none comes close to Buffalo’s NHL-record 13-year hiatus from the postseason, which will likely stretch to 14 this spring. We’ve seen one exasperated press conference after another from GM Kevyn Adams, lamenting the fact he struggles to improve his team because free agents aren’t drawn to his palm-tree-free city. (*tiny violin plays*)

Luckily, Mr. Adams, you can still make trades to change your team’s fate. No Sabre has a full no-movement clause, and only three have modified no-trade clauses. Cozens is not one of them. Two years ago, he was the blossoming No. 2 center fuelling a spirited playoff push that fell a single point short. He busted out for a 31-goal, 68-point season and earned himself a seven-year contract extension at a $7.1 million AAV. He and Tage Thompson were poised to be Buffalo’s pillars up the middle for years to come. But Cozens, like his team in general, has regressed horribly. In 120 games since he signed that contract, he hasn’t matched his single-season totals from 2022-23. His transition game and puck carrying have cratered. Shayna Goldman of the Athletic broke down Cozens’ deterioration in great detail last month.

Still: Cozens is just 23. He’s a 6-foot-3, right-shot center. He’s proven what he can do when he’s confident and playing in a (formerly) good situation. If you don’t believe a change of environment can unlock him, you’ve forgotten Thompson’s trajectory awfully fast.

If the Sabres decide they need a shakeup, suitors would line up for Cozens – and some reportedly have already. Which landing spots make sense? Consider these six.

Calgary Flames

Why he makes sense: At the NHL level and in their prospect pipeline, the Flames have a dearth of right-handed centers. They’re also competitive sooner than they probably expected to be after GM Craig Conroy (wisely) sold off so many core pieces over the past year and a half. If they’re no longer bad enough that they can compete for a Draft Lottery win, should they take their first steps toward accelerating their rebuild? They still have many more years of Mackenzie Weegar, Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri under contract, not to mention Blake Coleman and Yegor Sharangovich, so perhaps they should add a forward in his true prime to lineup that isn’t bad enough to tank fully anyway. With a little more than $70 million in cap spending right now and Andrei Kuzmenko’s $5.5 million coming off the books this summer, the $7.1 million AAV on Cozens fits into the payroll easily.

Fly in the ointment: The Flames are loaded with picks and prospects – but it would be risky to sacrifice a first-rounder or blue-chipper when it’s too early to know if they’re for real as a playoff threat. Half a season isn’t enough to cement their ascension. They may want to keep fortifying their pipeline another year. If they decide they can spare one of up to three first-rounders in 2025 (conditions pending): What if the Sabres decide they have amassed enough picks and prospects? They want pieces to help right now. Would Rasmus Andersson make sense? Buffalo badly needs help on the right side of its D-corps. His departure would hurt Calgary, but he only has two years remaining on his contract including this season, and the Flames have a future star right-shot blueliner coming in Zayne Parekh.

Chicago Blackhawks

Why he makes sense: The Blackhawks need to show some sign of progression as they build around cornerstone center Connor Bedard. So far, they’re nowhere close to icing a competitive team and furthering his development. Adding a big pivot who can log significant minutes would take some pressure off Bedard – and Frank Nazar. They’d have to send some salary Buffalo’s way to make a deal work this season, but next season wouldn’t be a problem, given a combined $10 million for Taylor Hall and Alec Martinez expires. As a bonus: Cozens grew up a Blackhawks fan.

Fly in the ointment: Similar to the Flames, the Hawks are a team that has bottomed out and therefore counts picks and prospects as their primary assets. Unlike Calgary, however, Chicago hasn’t shown any signs of beginning a climb in the standings and absolutely isn’t in a position to punt prospects. As for their two first-rounders in 2025: maybe, but if Buffalo doesn’t want more futures, the Hawks don’t have particularly attractive NHLers to offer in trades. The best they could do is dangle a sturdy right-shot veteran blueliner such as Connor Murphy, but he’s 31 and the Sabres aren’t really pushing for a playoff spot. If Buffalo moves Cozens it needs a twentysomething player with upside coming its way in the deal.

Detroit Red Wings

Why he makes sense: Everything about the Red Wings indicates they desperately want to win now before GM Steve Yzerman is deemed a failure, from their slew of veteran acquisitions over the past few offseasons to firing coach Derek Lalonde last month. The Wings haven’t been able to develop a star in-house center behind Dylan Larkin; Michael Rasmussen wasn’t it, Joe Veleno wasn’t it, Marco Kasper’s ceiling is debatable and Nate Danielson is just cutting his teeth as a pro in the AHL. Adding Cozens to the fold would finally bring Detroit a prime-aged No. 2 pivot. Given the Wings have loaded up on prospects during their seven-year playoff drought, they actually have some young NHL players they could surrender as part of a trade with Buffalo. That could include someone like Kasper or Jonatan Berggren. The Wings have their 2025 first-rounder to boot.

Fly in the ointment: The Wings are close to the cap right now, and the money they’d need to send the Sabres’ way to make a trade work is tied up in players that might not interest them much. Rasmussen’s $3.2 million AAV could be a starting point, but only if he’s part of a greater package. Otherwise it’s not enticing enough for Adams.

Nashville Predators

Why he makes sense: We don’t even have to get theoretical about this one. It’s been widely reported that Nashville already made a push for Cozens. He makes a ton of sense for the Preds given they’re one of the oldest teams in the NHL. They’re only listed as the 12^th-oldest team by average age, but virtually everyone playing a major role is north of 30: Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly, Steven Stamkos, Gustav Nyquist and Jonathan Marchessault up front and Roman Josi and Brady Skjei on defense. They committed hard to winning during their free-spending 2024 offseason, failed miserably and can’t really rewind all the money and term they’ve committed, so GM Barry Trotz may need to trade his way out of trouble to widen his team’s window. If Cozens can get his confidence back, he still has the upside to be not just a good No. 2 center, but perhaps even a passable No. 1.

Fly in the ointment: Not only is Nashville almost capped out in the present, but they have almost no contracts expiring in 2025, so it would be mandatory to move significant dollars to Buffalo in a Cozens trade. That could start with Tommy Novak heading to Western New York; he carries a $3.5 million AAV and has zero movement restrictions on his contract. Trotz would presumably have to attach a significant pick and/or prospect as well to balance out the deal. As my colleague Seravalli reported this week, Buffalo values Cozens at his 2022-23 level in trade talks. And why shouldn’t they? There’s a reason so many teams want him.

Philadelphia Flyers

Why he makes sense: The Flyers have struggled to hit on a No. 1 center in the draft over the past decade. Nolan Patrick’s tale was a sad one; Morgan Frost is not Him. So it’s highly logical that, as reported by my colleague Anthony Di Marco last month, Flyers GM Danny Briere made a pitch to Adams for a Cozens trade. A swap involving depressed assets, all of whom have first-round pedigree and remaining upside, makes plenty of sense; Di Marco tabled a trade involving Cozens heading to Philly and left winger Joel Farabee and right-shot blueliner Jamie Drysdale to Buffalo.

Fly in the ointment: In that mock trade scenario, it still feels like Adams surrenders the clear best player in the deal. Can he find a way to maximize on the considerable interest and acquire someone with upside matching Cozens’? It’s not an easy trade for Buffalo to win.

Vancouver Canucks

Why he makes sense: If you want blockbusters, baby, you hope for this trade. We know the Canucks have reached a boiling point between top two centers Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller. Pettersson has no restrictions on his contract and cannot control his fate. Miller has a full no-movement clause. So if one has to go, it’s likely Pettersson, as outlined on Seravalli’s new Trade Targets board. Cozens, meanwhile, is a Whitehorse, Yukon native and the Canucks would represent the market closest to his hometown. It’s not too difficult to dream up a trade package sending him and British Columbia born defenseman Bowen Byram to the Canucks in a package for Pettersson.

Fly in the ointment: If the Canucks have actually painted themselves into a corner and, woof, have to trade the 26-year-old Pettersson instead of the 31-year-old Miller…shouldn’t GM Patrik Allvin aim higher than Cozens? You need a guaranteed franchise forward coming back your way, not a maybe. Whether the Canucks can hold out for a fair return depends on just how dire the dressing room situation is – and how much leverage it sucks away.

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