Dylan Cozens is coming into 2021 with a ton of hype. A top-10 pick only a year ago, and an incredible 16-point performance to lead Team Canada at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship right before the National Hockey League season gets going.
The Buffalo Sabres under general manager Jason Botterill gave star prospects like Casey Mittelstadt and Tage Thompson an opportunity to play in the NHL right away, even to their own detriment.
Just because it didn't go so well with those two, doesn't mean it won't with Cozens. Will the Sabres agree?
Cozens is on the ice skating with the Sabres at training camp in their second group. Giving us, to this point, nothing but guess-work for where Cozens would be positioned in the lineup, should he fit there in the first place.
One line makes the most sense for Cozens, and there may only be one spot left to earn a job on.
The top-two lines should be set in stone. They make just too much sense.
Head coach Ralph Krueger jumbled the lines a bit at practice on Friday, taking Jeff Skinner away from Eric Staal and Sam Reinhart. I just can't realistically imagine those three not being together on opening night.
A checking line of Kyle Okposo, Cody Eakin, and Tobias Rieder looks very likely as well.
That leaves Cozens, Thompson, Mittelstadt, Curtis Lazar, Arttu Ruotsalainen, Riley Sheahan, and anyone else trying to make the team with three spots up for grabs.
Cozens has the most potential in the group, is the most versatile in the group, and fits into any style of line Krueger wants to put together
Want to go defensive with Lazar and Sheahan?
Cozens has established himself as a responsible center in his own zone at the junior level. His game is very mature for his age, and he showed it both in the World Juniors, and in Sabres preseason games in 2019.
Want to go offensive with Thompson and Ruotsalainen or Mittelstadt?
Cozens finished second at the World Juniors with 16 points in seven games. He showed off every offensive trait you'd want to see.
He's got the speed you want, with hands that can keep up with his feet. His shot is hard and accurate. He has the balance in his skating that allows him to get a shot off from anywhere in the offensive zone with heat on it.
Cozens has the ability to drive play down the middle. His head is always up and he almost always is putting the puck right where the receptor needs it.
All of these skills will need to translate to the NHL for Cozens to become the second line center Buffalo need him to become.
The Sabres could see big dividends by putting Cozens on their leftovers line. You have to see what he's got, because if he is ready to be a top-six player in the NHL now, those are minutes the Sabres desperately need to find their way into the playoffs in 2021.