The Buffalo Sabres announced forward Dylan Cozens has signed a seven-year contract extension.
🚨 SEVEN MORE YEARS OF COZEY! 🚨
Dylan Cozens has agreed to terms on a 7-year, $49.7 million extension (7.1 AAV).
Details: https://t.co/cAjGhCCGVc pic.twitter.com/7d5j7vCLLj
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) February 7, 2023
Cozen’s new contract is worth $49.7 million with an annual average value of $7.1 million a season.
The #LetsGoBuffalo signed 21 y/o F Dylan Cozens to 7 year $7.1M Cap Hit extension:
Year 1: $5.1M Salary & $2M Signing Bonus
Years 2-7: $7.1M Salary5 Team No Trade Clause in years 5-7
Covers 3 UFA years
17G 43P in 49 GP
Rep'd by Allain Roy @rsghockeyhttps://t.co/aiCJQm57IT
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) February 7, 2023
In addition, Cozens will have a signing bonus of $2 million in the first season with a salary of $5.1 million. The rest of the contract pays him $7.1 million a season. To go along with the money, Cozens has a five-team no-trade list in years five through seven.
https://twitter.com/JourdonLaBarber/status/1623015465009221652?s=20&t=nVqGzu5-IKck50e72O5oMg
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has been putting in some work over the last six months. To go along with the new deal for Cozens, he locked Tage Thompson up to a seven-year, $50 million contract in the summer. And as the season opened, he signed Mattias Samuelsson to a seven-year, $30 million contract.
After signing Cozens to a 7 year / $7.1M AAV extension, we now show the Buffalo #Sabres with a projected cap hit of $58,765,237 in 2023-24 based on 17 active contracts (9F-6D-2G) currently on the roster for next season. https://t.co/H5mJ7YSKPq pic.twitter.com/sbiYWWCH1q
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) February 7, 2023
Lance Lysowski: Kevyn Adams moving swiftly to ensure his core players remain in Buffalo long-term. Rasmus Dahlin is likely next. His current deal runs through ’23’-24
Dylan Cozens, signed to a 7x$7.1M extension by BUF, is a young second-line forward whose development so far has gone in the right direction. #LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/BPBqOO3QkS
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) February 7, 2023
Cozens is having a career season with the Sabres in just his third year in the league. Originally seventh overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, Cozens has 43 points (17 goals and 26 assists) in 49 games this season with Buffalo. He eclipsed his career totals from last season when he played in 79 games.
Jourdon LaBarber: Ranks 2nd among the 2019 Draft class in P/GP (0.88, ahead of 5 players picked in front of him).
The only player that has a better point per game is 2019 first-overall pick Jack Hughes.
The Buffalo Sabres have re-signed Dylan Cozens to a seven-year deal with an AAV of $7.1M. You know, we always liked Dylan Cozens and we like this contract even more from Sabres' perspective. Dylan Cozens is already legit TOP6 offensive center. pic.twitter.com/4nv2mbozgC
— Rono (@RonoAnalyst) February 7, 2023
Dylan Cozens has thrived under head coach Don Granato. Granato has pushed Cozens to compete more and he is being rewarded for his work ethic.
Don Granato Via Press Release: “I keep saying the same thing about him, it’s compete,” Granato said in December. “Just couple that with love of the game that he has, the love of the game hockey. He competes for the right reason being in a team sport. He brings guys in with him, he drags people into the fight, per se, which is a real indicator of his leadership and leadership ability going forward.
“There’s so many things, so many elements for Dylan. … We can assess his skill set, and I guess that’s somewhat simple and getting better by the day. But it’s the intangibles that separate him.”
The model is being a bit too cautious on Dylan Cozens's trajectory.
The contract expectation is 1.6 wins and Cozens is on pace to be worth 2.2 wins this season. Wouldn't be a surprise to see him stay at that level going forward which would make this deal a steal. pic.twitter.com/KQ39EeWFpn— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) February 7, 2023
Dylan Cozens signs extension with #LetsGoBuffalo
He doesn't get to play with the top wingers in Buffalo but he is frequently on PP1. He is in a great spot to continue producing at a high level, but not an elite level. Currently on pace for 72 pts.https://t.co/7FM1U2L0p4 pic.twitter.com/Wa5FkuhlHA
— Frozen Tools (@FrozenTools) February 7, 2023