PRAGUE — Dylan Cozens takes his summer training seriously. He always has. So even after a down year statistically last season, the Buffalo Sabres’ No. 2 center didn’t feel the need to dramatically overhaul his off-ice routine. But what did change was the number he saw when he stepped on the scale. Between the end of last season and the start of training camp, Cozens put on 14 pounds. He’s 12 pounds heavier than he was at the start of training camp last season.
“This summer, for me, my body was able to put on some more weight naturally,” Cozens said. “Finally. I feel like I came in bigger, stronger and faster.”
Cozens won’t turn 24 until around the midpoint of the season. He’s just starting to hit the physical maturity that will match the hard, direct playing style he has tried to develop since he came into the league. New coach Lindy Ruff loves what he has in Cozens, so much so that he’s one of the team’s four alternate captains.
When Ruff took the job, he first started learning about his players by watching video. Cozens was among Buffalo’s players who bottled up the disappointment of the 2023-24 season and took it to the World Championship in Prague. He led the tournament in goals, scoring nine for Team Canada. It was reminiscent of the performance he had in the same tournament two years ago before his breakout 2022-23 season. And though playing in that tournament cut into his summer training, he still got the results he wanted.
Cozens knows he had a tough season and that he still needs to establish the type of player he can be in this league. In that way, his development is one of the keys to Buffalo’s season. He’s in the second year of a contract that pays him $7.1 million annually. That could be a bargain if he can become a two-way center capable of handling his business in his own end and putting up 65-plus points. Internally, the belief in Cozens is as strong as ever. That’s why he has a letter on his jersey. Ruff lauded Cozens for his on-ice effort, communication with coaches and willingness to speak up to energize the bench.
“As I grew here and became more comfortable, it’s something that I saw for myself, being someone who can be a leader on this team for a long time and help set the standard and the culture here,” Cozens said.
Now maybe the letter can give him the added confidence to get back to the player he was two seasons ago. He looks and sounds like someone who is ready to do that, but we’ll find out when the regular season starts against the New Jersey Devils on Friday.
Here’s what else we’ve seen and heard from the Sabres in Prague leading up to the two Global Series games.
Samuelsson another key factor
Mattias Samuelsson has become a Ruff favorite early on. Samuelsson is an easy guy to get along with on and off the ice, and he plays the style of game that is easy for Ruff to respect. So it made sense when Ruff gave Samuelsson one of the four A’s. But it wasn’t something Samuelsson saw coming.
“One of the reasons I felt surprised is in some ways I still feel like I’m a rookie coming into the NHL,” Samuelsson said about how quick his first couple of seasons have felt. “And I’m coming off shoulder surgery, so coming into the year I wanted to be prepared and prove myself all over again. The combination of those two things made it a little shocking. I’m still young, but I’m just trying to grow with the foundation that we have. I think there’s guys in here that don’t have letters and are leaders, so it doesn’t change much. The group dynamic is pretty cool.”
Samuelsson played only 41 games last season because of that shoulder injury, and only 55 games the year before that. Like Cozens, he’s in the second year of a long-term contract extension he’s still trying to live up to. Adams made early bets on the rising young players he viewed as the Sabres’ core. Samuelsson plays a physical game on defense and has put his body on the line often. It’s part of what led to some of his injuries, but it’s also what has endeared him to his teammates.
“It is cool to be acknowledged and realize your teammates look at you for guidance once in a while or you have a say in which way this rope is being pulled,” Samuelsson said.
Samuelsson is starting the season on the third defensive pair with Connor Clifton, and that role suits him. Maybe playing fewer minutes will help him play in more games this season. If Ruff gets the forwards to buy into playing better team defense on the backcheck, it’ll help all of the defensemen.
Mattias Samuelsson chats with coach Lindy Ruff during practice in Germany. (Ben Jackson / NHLI via Getty Images)
Other defensive pairs
With Rasmus Dahlin back at practice for the last week and a half, we’ve seen him predominantly with Henri Jokiharju. That’s a great opportunity for Jokiharju but also a sensible pair. The on-ice results for Jokiharju and Owen Power as a pair weren’t great last season, and you could say the same for Dahlin and Bo Byram. The Sabres put Dahlin and Byram together right after the Sabres traded for Byram, in part to showcase their new acquisition and build his confidence. Byram showed his offensive potential early on, but he and Dahlin were too similar in some ways. Dahlin wanted to go back to a more comfortable playing partner.
How Byram fits into the mix, especially during a contract year, will be worth watching. In terms of on-ice expected goal share at five-on-five last season, Buffalo’s three best pairs were Dahlin-Jokiharju (56 percent), Samuelsson-Power (56 percent) and Power-Dahlin (54 percent). Power told me he has liked playing with Byram because he feels like they think the game the same way. They’ve been together on the second power-play unit, too. This will be a much easier situation from which to judge the type of player Byram is. Last season, his defensive partners changed often and he felt like he was in his head trying to adjust to new surroundings. Now he has some stability heading into the new year.
Power play coming into focus
Dahlin said Wednesday he won’t know how the power play is coming together until the group gets game reps. The Sabres have done a lot of work on the power play the last few days of practice, and Ruff believes he has two good units. These are the units we’ve seen in practice:
• First unit: Tage Thompson, Dahlin, JJ Peterka, Alex Tuch, Jack Quinn
• Second unit: Bo Byram, Power, Jason Zucker, Cozens, Zach Benson
Ruff and new power-play coach Seth Appert have emphasized more player movement, a better work ethic and more net-front presence. We’ve seen glimpses of that in practice. The competitiveness and urgency are much better. And they’re getting good reps against what could be a strong penalty kill with new additions like Beck Malenstyn, Ryan McLeod and Sam Lafferty. One thing that’s always worth watching early in the season is how smooth the zone entries are on the power play. That’s what I’ll be keying in on with this group, because when it has been set up in the zone, it’s looked good.
Quick hits
• You’ve probably noticed the retro-looking pads Devon Levi is wearing. He is still waiting for his custom-order set with Sabres colors to come in, but he has taken a liking to the brown pads and said he might break them out once in a while. We’ll probably see those pads in action this weekend in Prague.
• While I was writing about Buffalo’s new fourth-liners, one theme that came up was how each of those new additions is a player who has had to prove himself over and over again. Nicolas Aubé-Kubel is hopeful this can be a spot where he and his family stick.
“Especially lately, I’ve been moving a lot,” he said. “Hopefully this year I can settle down more and make more of a name. That would be fun to be more regular with a team and build something.”
Aubé-Kubel is on a one-year contract worth $1.5 million.
• I haven’t ruled out the possibility of the Sabres keeping three goalies on the roster when they have to get down to 23 players on Oct. 7. James Reimer’s $1 million salary might pass through waivers to the AHL, but goalie situations around the league could change that. The Boston Bruins just claimed goalie Jiří Patera off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks while they work to get Jeremy Swayman signed. Reimer isn’t flashy, but he put up decent numbers last season and has a long track record in the NHL. That’s the one roster decision that could be interesting when the Sabres get back home.
• The NHL salary cap is expected to increase to $92.5 million next season, slightly higher than the estimated salary cap we used in our salary-cap forecast last week. The higher number only further reinforces that Buffalo’s upcoming restricted free agents all have a reason to be patient. Another strong season could push Peterka’s value even higher. Quinn wants to have a healthy season, and Byram and McLeod will want to play a full year with their new teams to establish their value. Levi has no reason to rush to sign, either. The key for Adams will be finding the right time to push for those deals in-season if/when those players are ready. For now, it’s status quo.
