Top fantasy sleeper for the Buffalo Sabres in 2022-23

The Buffalo Sabres showed late last season that they hold value in fantasy hockey. But one player that did not is a deep sleeper for 2022-23. 

When you think of the Buffalo Sabres and fantasy hockey in 2022-23, you may feel that several players would make good mid-to-late-round draft picks. Names like Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, and perhaps Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner stand out. But one potential standout name has received little buzz: Dylan Cozens. 

The Workhorse from Whitehorse only scored 38 points in 79 games, meaning most fantasy hockey owners will scoff and go elsewhere in the late, or even the final round. But if you play in a league featuring 12 or more teams, you may want to think twice, given the potential Cozens showed last year.

If Buffalo Sabres center Dylan Cozens scores throughout 2022-23 the way he did in parts of 2021-22, expect him to put up respectable fantasy hockey numbers.

Before the All-Star Break, Cozens scored 11 goals and 10 assists in 41 games, putting him on pace for 22 goals and 20 assists had he kept up the same tempo. Unfortunately, he scored just two the rest of the way, but he did put up 15 assists, for a total of 13 goals and 25 assists.

Cozens had streaky and inconsistent production in 2021-22. But one reason I’m high on him as a late, or final round pick for your 2022 fantasy draft is because he made a strong leap in production from Year One to Year Two nonetheless.

Let’s go back to 2020-21, where he scored just 13 points, four goals, and nine assists in 41 games. Last season, his 22 points in 41 games showed us a 41 percent increase in output from his rookie season. Cozens is heading into Year Three, and it is important to remember that he is just 21 years old, meaning he still has a lot of growing to do.

Suppose we see another 41 percent increase from Year Two to Year Three in 41 games. This would give him 30 points over the first 41. He scored 17 points in his final 38 games last season (he played in 79). Take another 41 percent, and you get 24. That’s a 54-point season.

While the increase in production from a percentage standpoint will eventually wane, given the growth Cozens and the Sabres have shown offensively throughout 2021-22, he is one player that, barring injury, will continue to enjoy such progression.

This article isn’t saying that it is wise to draft Cozens in the mid rounds, or even the early portions of the later rounds. But in the penultimate or final round of a fantasy hockey draft in a league featuring 12 or more teams, he is worth looking into considering his jump in overall production over his first two seasons.

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)