Canadiens Trade Talk: Habs Interested In Forward Dylan Cozens

According to Kevin Weekes, the Montreal Canadiens are among the teams that reportedly inquired about the availability of Buffalo Sabres forward Dylan Cozens.

In addition to the Habs, Weekes reports the Calgary Flames, the Detroit Red Wings, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have also shown interest.

In speaking to sources , I’m told there’s been plenty of expressions of interest from clubs in @BuffaloSabres F Cozens including ; @CanadiensMTL @NHLFlames @MapleLeafs @DetroitRedWings . #SabreHood #HockeyX pic.twitter.com/EJGtKI36f6

— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) February 5, 2025

While I’m certain Weekes is not the type of person who manufactures interest when there isn’t any, we also have to keep in mind Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes is the type of executive that will make as many calls as possible to gauge the value of certain players on the NHL’s Trade Market, connoting that this could have simply been part of Hughes’ due diligence.

That being said, there’s a lot to consider when dealing with a player such a Cozens.

Montreal Canadiens Angle

He’s a 23-year-old centre who is not enjoying the best season from a raw production standpoint, with 10 goals and 16 assists in 53 games. However, he also plays for the Sabres, and as we all know, that can be a very difficult setting for a young player. There’s no guarantee Cozens would immediately return to his scoring pace from 2022-23 if he were to be dealt, but we do have to recognize that just because he plays for a bad team doesn’t mean he’s a bad player.

As it stands, Cozens’ 1.82 points per 60 minutes of 5v5 ice time is the second-highest result of his career, and adding offensive firepower to a team such as the Canadiens is never a bad idea.

Unfortunately, his underlying numbers are far from encouraging, even when we adjust the filter to see his stats relative to his teammates.

And then there’s the matter of his very rich contract that kicked in this summer. Yes, there’s a significant increase in salary cap space on the books, and the Montreal Canadiens should have plenty of financial manoeuvrability moving forward, but Cozens is set to carry a $7.1 million cap hit until 2030-31.

If he can’t re-ignite the scoring touch that led to him finding the back of the net 31 times in 2022-23, there’s a significant risk his contract could become an albatross.

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Seeing as he’s still relatively young, and there are several other teams interested in a potential trade, odds are the Canadiens would have to pony up a two or three good assets to secure a trade involving Cozens.

It feels like a medium risk, medium reward type of trade, which won’t scare away Hughes, as he’s shown he’s willing to gamble on young players, but the recent reversal of fortunes we’ve seen from Kirby Dach may stop him from adding yet another ‘reclamation’  project to the organization.