Buffalo Sabres: Is Dylan Cozens the team’s most polarizing player?

Buffalo Sabres forward Dylan Cozens had arguably the most up-and-down season in 2021-22 – and many fans remain divided on the Workhorse from Whitehorse. 

There were two Buffalo Sabres I debated on writing this article about: Dylan Cozens and Casey Mittelstadt. However, with many polls, especially those regarding team captaincy and alternate captaincy, Cozens’ name kept popping up.

Cozens, unfortunately, has not impressed much as a player. He recorded just 51 career points in 120 NHL games, 17 of which have found twine. However, Cozens has been respectable with winning face-offs, with a career average of 46.0 percent. Yeah, that number needs to come up, but it’s not terrible.

His shooting percentage increased by nearly two percent. Ditto for his number of takeaways, which jumped from 0.31 per game to 0.41. Fans also saw his leadership qualities skyrocket, which definitely explains why they believe he should wear the A patch.

Why Dylan Cozens is the most polarizing player among the Buffalo Sabres faithful

I’ve written about Cozens a few times, and I personally believe he will develop into at least a solid player in the middle lines. He plays with passion, but you can’t ignore his cold streaks regarding his scoring output. Something even he acknowledged following the season’s end.

Following the All-Star break, Cozens scored just two goals after scoring 11 from October 2021 until February 1st. That’s regression for a team whose scoring prowess skyrocketed in March and April. So it is easy to see why another camp of fans don’t want to see an A patch anywhere near Cozens’ jersey.

The bottom line lies somewhere in between. Yes, Cozens has underperformed in terms of scoring. But he took better care of the puck this season, with his giveaways per game decreasing from 0.487 per game to just 0.379 per game.

He has also displayed toughness, a thirst to battle for the puck, and at times the thirst to get rough with opponents. Cozens’ voice became one of the loudest on the Sabres, which is amazing considering he was just 20 years old for most of last season.

So here is my take on it. Cozens has the potential to develop into at least an alternate captain, but it won’t be in 2022-23. He has shown that he can be at least a serviceable player, but he cannot rise above serviceable status until he gets more consistent with his scoring.

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)