OTTAWA — There have been fewer wins than the Ottawa Senators would like this season, but they’ve certainly won their side of the Dylan Cozens for Josh Norris trade.
Unfortunately for the well-liked Norris, his injuries have plagued him since his move to Buffalo, while Cozens has lived up to his moniker, the workhorse from Whitehorse.
The Senators needed health from the second-line centre, and they’ve found that with Cozens, who hasn't missed a game since the trade last March.
It hasn’t been a perfect odyssey for the Yukon native to the nation’s capital. After a hot start right after the trade at last year's deadline, Cozens was quiet in the post-season and, until recently, had struggled for offence at five-on-five.
Cozens was Ottawa’s complement to Tim Stutzle and Shane Pinto, excellent first and third-line centres, but his counterparts outshone him. However, since getting united on a line with Brady Tkachuk and Ridly Greig seven games ago, Cozens has been on fire, cooking up nine points.
“He's playing a strong game right now. He's moving his feet. He's been good with the puck, playing physical,” said Senators coach Travis Green. “He's got a tremendous shot. I think his confidence is where it needs to be to play.”
For most of the season, Cozens had been flanked by Drake Batherson, who’s an excellent player. But it's no surprise that he has been hot since partnering up with Tkachuk. Like his captain, Cozens has become an imposing force, leading the Senators in hits with 141 — a whopping 40 more than second-place Nick Cousins. Cozens is 16th in the NHL in hits.
In Buffalo, Cozens was seen as a talented player, with skill, physicality and a scoring touch. But he joined the long list of the uber-skilled who lost their hockey soul in Buffalo.
The knock on Cozens in Buffalo — and by inference why he was traded — was that he didn’t fulfill his potential offensively and was a defensive liability. Both aspects travelled with him and were still affecting his game when he first got to Ottawa. In the playoffs, Green didn’t play Cozens in any big matchups, preferring Pinto. In essence, Cozens was relegated to being the third most important centre. Similarly, this season, Cozens wasn’t producing at five-on-five, but in his recent heater, he has tallied seven five-on-five points in seven games. That is seven out of the 18 five-on-five points he’s contributed this season.
Cozens acknowledges he needed to improve his five-on-five play.
“It's a part of my game that I want to develop more of, is that O-zone game, and being able to produce from the O-zone and not just off the rush,” he told Sportsnet.ca. “I think I'm getting better at it, and I just want to continue to improve. And just find more greasy goals around the net and find ways to get loose around the net.”
Do between-the-leg goals count as greasy?
We think so.
In Sunday's 7-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights, Cozens scored his first of two goals when he showed off his big frame, getting to the net-front and quickly finishing a tap-in on his knees with a clever backhand between the legs. Later in the game, he made a perfect bank pass in transition to Tkachuk and received a smart return pass to wire one home from the slot.
Three of Cozens' seven five-on-five goals this season have come in the last seven games.
"For me, it's a different kind of play than I'm used to; we get a lot more O-zone time,” Cozens told Sportsnet.ca earlier this season. “And I’m used to, obviously, the run-and-gun, like odd-man rushes and stuff (from Buffalo)."
It’s taken a while for Cozens to thrive in Ottawa at even strength, he says, due to a difference in playing style in Ottawa. The Senators play a more possession-based style while the Sabres prefer to attack in transition.
In the meantime, Cozens is fourth on the team in expected goals share at five-on-five at an elite 54 per cent. Last Tuesday in Columbus, Cozens made a great pass to Ridly Greig, who potted home a goal. An uptick in five-on-five offence for Cozens is what the Senators sorely need from their second-line centre.
When the swap for Norris was made, general manager Steve Staios said Cozens' ability to drive play at five-on-five made him attractive. At the time of the trade, Norris was producing more than Cozens despite lower underlying metrics, like a 46 per cent expected goal share.
Meanwhile, in an awful Sabres' environment, Cozens had a 49 per cent expected goal share. Three percentage points don’t explain everything, but it suggests Cozens was the better play driver with potential to improve.
The wager on Cozens so far hasn’t been a home run, but it is looking more and more encouraging for the Senators.
Cozens has become one of the upper-echelon power play merchants in the league, sitting 12th in power play goals and 17th in power play points this season. Don't forget, production on the power play counts just the same as at five-on-five.
Yet, for Cozens to have more power-play goals and points than at five-on-five through 52 games is rare.
Quite the dichotomy.
“I got to be greasier, you got to beat a guy, you got to win a battle, and you just got to be around the net more, not shooting off the rush,” Cozens told Sportsnet.ca. “I think I can score more goals around the net.”
Another issue: Cozens is minus-11 this season. On the surface, that is worrying, even given that plus/minus is a very imperfect stat.
“His plus/minus isn't where he wants it to be, but I've seen that part of his game steadily improve as well,” said Green.
“I think my defensive game has come a pretty long way this season,” added Cozens. “Obviously, my plus/minus isn't great, but I think that's more just (not) producing offensively and (not) scoring more goals five on five.”
“But the end of the day, I couldn't really care that much about plus or minus, and I know not many players do so, you know, but I think my defensive game has come a way.”
Plus (pun intended), the Senators’ goal differential when he’s been on the ice has markedly been better the last two months. Since Dec. 10, Cozens has been a plus-two; prior to that point, he was a minus-13.
Cozens explains that it took him a while to master Ottawa’s zonal defensive coverage scheme. Although he still has a bad turnover in his game.
“(I’m better at) reads in the defensive zone, I'm learning the system,” said Cozens. “I don't have to think as much anymore, but my reads are more automatic. And I’m just getting more comfortable in our D-zone coverage and knowing my job without having to think about it as much.”
His defensive improvement is stark. Out of 594 players who’ve played at least 300 minutes this season, Cozens is 19th with 2.15 expected goals allowed per game at five-on-five when he's on the ice.
Don’t forget that if the Senators didn't have the worst team percentage in the league, it could be a much prettier picture for Cozens. When Cozens has been on the ice, the Senators have a ridiculously bad .876 team save percentage at five-on-five.
The question when Cozens arrived in the 613-area code was which version of him would the Senators get? The seventh overall pick with immense promise after scoring 31 goals in his age-22 season, or the player who ultimately struggled to live up to that potential in Buffalo?
He has more goals in 52 games this season (17) than he did in all 82 games last season (16).
The recent five-on-five production, defensive improvement and clean bill of health make Cozens a more-than-fine Senator.
Ottawa wanted the best brand of Cozens when they traded for him. They have gotten just that, and they are better for it.
