mjd1001

If I were to say what are some ways that Cozens made me unhappy with him as a player, I might list: -He is awful defensively, for sure not a 2-way player. -his physical game has gone away, not standing up for Dahlin last night was really bad. Its also not the only time it has happened with him. -he's a pretty bad shooter, no accuracy, He has the lowerst shooting percentage this year of any forward on the team now not named Sam Lafferty. -in the offensive zone he does't see his linemates and doesn't set them up. I have said on this forum before, he's a 'black hole' in the slot. Once the puck goes into him, it never comes back out. Not a playmaker that sets up his linemates at all. Well, in his post-trade interview with Ottawa media he said the following: "I think I'm a player that can play a strong two-way game and bring a physical side, and then also a shooting and playmaking side," Cozens said following the trade. https://www.nhl.com/news/dylan-cozens-traded-to-ottawa-senators-by-buffalo-sabres-for-josh-norris

Josh Norris also was one of Ottawa's best/most used penalty killers. 2:15 minutes per game on the PK.

He's from Sweden, hes close to the same age as Dahlin...maybe they had a history of playing together/knowing each other.

By nhl edge metrics, Norris is one of the fastest skaters in the league. Elite speed. With McLeod and Norris being 2 of probably the fastest 20 skaters in the league, and Tage way out in front in terms of the hardest shots taken in a game....this Sabres team could probably do really well in a skills competition.

That is what I feel. When you are on the PP, there is a bit more 'pressure' to score than on a regular shift in a way. He is one of the least productive scorers on the power play. Game winning goals? He has a fraction through is career what guys like Tuch and Thompson have. With Cozens, the weakest part of his game was scoring when put in a situation where you are pressing for a goal, he almost disappeared. If he is responsible Defensively and that line is still scoring, then of course stick with it.

Can't totally rule out the chance Tage moves back to center and Kulich gets some time at wing. I don't think that looks likely now, but you never know.

I wonder if the plan for most of the rest of the season will be for Norris to get those top line Center minutes....just needs a few games to get up to speed with the system?

The dowside obviously: -Norris misses a lot of games, at least he has in the past. The upside: -In the past 4 years, 460 forwards have played over 100 games. He is 38th out of 460 players in terms of goals per games played. He is also much better than Cozens on the PowerPlay: -Cozens 12 career PP goals in 341 games (1 PP goal every 28.4 games) -Norris 33 career PP goals in 236 games (1PP goal every 7.1 games) Of players with over 500 minutes of ice time on the PP over the last 4 seasons (basically a PP regular), he is 17th best in the entire league in goals per 60 (out of 150 forwards with that many minutes or more.)

Unrelated to the trade, but I never saw any of those movies until about 3 years ago...now I watch any of them whenever I come across them on TV.

My head is spinning.

"Yeah, it's pretty tough," Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk said. "It [stinks] losing a guy like [Norris]. Obviously, everybody knows how much he means to me. Just spent the last little bit with him and I'll kind of take advantage of every minute for the rest of the day ... Tough practice today." "It's the unfortunate reality of it being a business," Tkachuk said. "We're getting back important pieces that are really going to help us. I mean, it [stinks]. It's part of it, but with 'Cozy' and Gilbert, we're going to welcome them with open arms. I feel bad a little bit that this is the initial reaction and of course I think they're going to understand why it's a little bit of a whirlwind for me personally, but with that being said, it's all about being a good captain, being a good teammate and making sure that they have everything that they need and have the support right from Day 1. They're going to be important pieces to our team." https://www.nhl.com/news/dylan-cozens-traded-to-ottawa-senators-by-buffalo-sabres-for-josh-norris

Cozens is gone, a Center (who is scoring a LOT more than Pettersson is) is on the way back. I'm good with no EP at this point.

I like the move a lot. I'll like it even more if they make another deal that involved some more toughness coming back in return.

My thinking? Your thinking is the one that is flawed here. Why just give it away? Maybe because Ottawa wouldn't do the trade without it? Did you have a source in the room when Buffalo said "Thanks, take a 2nd also, on us"

That 2nd has about a 1 in 100 chance of being a good nhl level player in the next 3-4 years. I'm ok with it. Gilbert is not a great player but as you said he is one of the few guys on this team that will 'go' with anyone when needed. Hopefully since he is gone, a suitable replacement for that role is incoming.

I expected less so I'm surprised. He is net negative player. For the last 2 years the team 'loses' when he is on the ice. Every player he has played with for more than a handful of shifts per season is worse when they play with him. A legit argument can be made this team gets better simply getting rid of him. I'm sure other teams scouts, and their analytics depts all know this also. Not bad, just not sure Quinn fits anywhere well the way he is playing.

Because Norris is a better player than Cozens, a LOT better scoring and a little better without the puck.

I have this 'feeling' that Cozens will look good for the rest of the year. I think the trade will 'reinvigorate' him, and I think he needs that. Also, I think when he gets there they might just tell him "go out there and just play simple hockey, shoot the puck, hit people" and that is his game. Next year after a full year of camp, where he 'learns' the system more and they start asking him to do more (defensive coverage), that is when you might see things settle back down for him in a negative way. That might be oversimplifying it....but the above would be my best guess for how things unfold for him. Much better play for Ottawa this year than he has played for Buffalo...and then next year and beyond are up to him deciding whether he wants to put the work in to legit change his game.

Tage's elite shot and ability to get off shots with his reach that few in the NHL can do. Sure, its only about 15% of the Sabres goals, but Tage might 'creat' his own goals as good as anyone else in the league right now.

I think people in Ottawa, and the Canadian 'experts' are doing what most people do when they don't get to see a player play ever single game. They look at the stats, they look at the 'best year' as a ceiling that can be reached again, and they look at what the draft profile was of the player. What they don't see with Cozens, not because they don't know hockey but because they don't watch him every game....are all the little things he is so bad at. Cozens around the league is known as a 31 goal scorer, top 10 pick, 6'3" tall guy who throws checks into the corner, and a player 'stuck' on a bad team like the Sabres. Initial evaluations of this trade are going to be Ottawa got a guy who is back on his way to be a star. Its not because its necessarily true, its because that is how fans and media view things.

From the little I have read about JBD....he seems to be at best a 5/6. He could be one of those guys that, if he sticks around for 2-3 years...once he gets into his late 20's could be a 'sneaky' 2nd pair guy with a decent, but not exceptional, all around game.

Well, his deal is up but he is restricted and not looking to be a high priced guy. If he can play some games with the Sabres, it can basically be a couple month try-out to see if he meshes well with someone.

I don't know if I'd go THAT far to say we have a lot of guys that can create. On the other hand, you don't always need to 'create' from the center position. He could be someone what meshes well and finishes what Dahlin creates from the blue-line.

It could be. I'm not super high on Byram right now....and I'd rather have him not in this trade as his value would be pretty high to move him to somewhere else. But if it was Bryam, I'd still be ok with this deal.

Well those are this years numbers. If you extend the numbers over the past 3 years, they are a bit better. Over the last 3 years combined: With Tkachuk, one goal allowed every 21. 2 minutes. Without Tkachuk, one goal allowed every 19.4 minutes. So if you were to actually take away this year, he actually had about the same analytics (in terms of goals even strength on ice allowed) with or without Tkachuk. Again, just some quick numbers....on the ice is always a bit different than pure analytics. I agree with 100% of this.