The Buffalo Sabres have once again stuck to Kevyn Adams’ long-term plan, this time inking center Dylan Cozens to a seven-year deal.
The Buffalo Sabres have been busy inking their current talent to long-term contracts. This past summer, Buffalo reached agreements with Tage Thompson and Mattias Samuelsson, two of the team’s better players.
Now that Dylan Cozens is enjoying a breakout season, he got his time in the limelight with a seven year extension that will keep him in Buffalo until 2030. The deal begins next season, and Cozens’ AAV sits at $7.1 million per year, a rather decent and well-deserved paycheck for the 22-year-old.
And the deal couldn’t have come at a better time, with Cozens sitting at 43 points after appearing in 49 games, with 17 goals and 26 assists. All three are career-highs and coming off the heels of his first full NHL season in 2021-22.
Buffalo Sabres get it right with Dylan Cozens contract extension
Cozens is one of several Sabres to enjoy breakout seasons over the past two years. And at 22, he is just entering his prime and will spend it in the Queen City for the rest of the decade.
The deal also gives the Sabres even more stability, and it further distances themselves from the disaster they were in the 2010s, when coaching changes and roster turnover were the norm. With Cozens now inked to a long-term contract, he will also most likely pair with Jack Quinn and J.J. Peterka through at least 2025, and even longer if Adams eventually extends the rookies a couple of years from today.
Now that the Sabres landed Cozens for seven more years, who will they sign to an extension next? All signs point to Rasmus Dahlin, whose contract runs through 2023-24. Once the Sabres ink Dahlin and possibly bottom six players like Tyson Jost and Peyton Krebs, among others, they will have one of the most stable rosters in the NHL.
With a sound general manager and a good head coach in Don Granato, Sabres fans may finally see the Blue and Gold get to places they haven’t been to in a while. Yeah, it’s a good time to be a Buffalo sports fan.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference; Contract information provided by Cap-Friendly)
Article Source: Sabres agree to terms with Cozens on 7-year contract extension by Jourdon LeBarber
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