The Buffalo Sabres have added two of their top prospects to their training camp roster after wrapping up play at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton on Tuesday night.
The team announced Wednesday morning that 2019 first round pick (seventh overall) Dylan Cozens and 2020 first round pick (eighth overall) Jack Quinn are expected to join the rest of the group for training camp in the coming days.
TSN hockey insider Bob McKenzie reported Tuesday night that both Cozens and Quinn are taking a private charter flight back to Buffalo in order to reduce or eliminate the need for a seven-day quarantine.
Both players join the Sabres for training camp now after finishing with a silver medal finish with Team Canada at the World Juniors. Cozens and Quinn finish second in the tournament behind fellow Sabres prospect Ryan Johnson, who captured the gold medal on Tuesday with a 2-0 win in the final.
Cozens was one of the premier players at the 2021 World Juniors, returning to Canada's roster after winning the gold medal in the 2020 tournament in the Czech Republic. He finished this year's tournament with eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in just seven games, while also registering 26 shots on goal and a plus-11 rating, while averaging 17:49 of total ice-time per-game.
Following the tournament, Cozens was named as one of three forwards on the Media All-Star team, while also being named one of Canada's Top-Three Players, as voted on by the coaches.
The 19-year-old ended his two-year World Juniors career with Canada with 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points in 14 games. He finishes tied for fourth on the all-time scoring list for Canadian-born players, just one point behind Jordan Eberle and Brayden Schenn for second on the all-time scoring list.
Now he will return to Buffalo, where it is expected that he will be fighting for a full-time roster spot with the Sabres in the 2020-21 season.
As for Quinn, the 19-year-old finished his 2021 tournament with one goal and four assists for five points in seven games, while also registering six shots on goal and a plus-10 rating in 13:07 of average ice-time per-game. He served more in a depth role for the Canadians throughout the tournament, but did get plenty of looks in certain situations like the power play, penalty kill and in late-game situations.
While Quinn is not expected to make the 23-man roster with the Sabres in the 2020-21 season, he could start the year on the six-man taxi squad or be sent down to the American Hockey League and play with the Rochester Americans. That is indicative on if the Ontario Hockey League season is unable to get started on time or if the season will be canceled. If the OHL season gets underway at any point, Quinn will likely be returned to the Ottawa 67's.
The same scenario applies for Cozens, who still has one more year of eligibility to play in the Western Hockey League with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. If the WHL season can get underway and Cozens does not make the Sabres' roster, he will have to go back to Lethbridge.
Keep it locked to WGR and WGR550.com for the latest on this developing story and more from Sabres training camp...