Two Buffalo Sabres forward prospects have been selected to play for Team Canada at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. Sabres fans are eager to watch Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn strut their stuff at the annual junior hockey championships. Cozens was the 8th overall pick at the 2019 NHL Draft and Quinn was the 7th overall pick at the 2020 NHL Draft. Team Canada unveiled its 25-man roster on Friday afternoon. The tournament will kick off on Christmas Day and will end on January 5 in Edmonton, Alberta.
Last year, Cozens was impressive in helping Canada to win the WJC gold medal. Cozens tucked two goals with seven assists in seven games. Look for Cozens to center the top line with Chicago Blackhawks sniper Kirby Dach on his flank. Quinn, Cozens and Dach have been line mates on the top trio during Team Canada scrimmage games. Dach spent last season cruising the wing with Patrick Kane in Chicagoland. Dach is a rock star! Cozens is about to show the world that he can rock and roll, too! Quinn is no slouch either!
At 6’3… and 200 lbs., Cozens is a rare blend of power, passion, speed, and skill. Cozens’ game most definitely translates to the NHL level. Cozens can win draws, hold on to pucks, distribute, and score. He’s an excellent skater and he battles, back checks like a thief in the night.
This will be Quinn’s first time playing in the U-20 tourney. The sickly skilled winger scored 52 goals and 37 assists in 62 games for the Ottawa 67s last season. Sabres GM Kevyn Adams surprised many a loyal fan in Sabreland when he selected Quinn with the number eight pick at the NHL Draft in October. Many Sabres fans were leaning towards drafting slick forward Marco Rossi, Quinn’s Ottawa 67s teammate, with the number eight pick. Quinn has an opportunity to prove to the Sabres’ playoff -famished fan base that he is the right man for the job.
It will be a shock to me if Cozens does not make the opening night roster for the Sabres this season. The power center from the Lethbridge Hurricanes scored 38 goals and 47 assists in 51 games played in 2019-20. Cozens would have scored 40+ goals last season had he not committed to play for Team Canada at the World Juniors tourney. Cozens has nothing left to prove at the junior hockey level. He’s ready for prime time and the Sabres are ready for him.
Cozens has all the talent, smarts, strength and skill to play second line center in Buffalo for the next decade. That will not happen this season as veteran Eric Staal was acquired to play the 2C role in 2021. Cozens will be the 2C for the Sabres from 2021-22 and beyond and sooner if Staal struggles or suffers an injury that will take him out of the lineup.
I look for Cozens to slot in at the wing on Buffalo’s second and third lines.
Quinn will not be Buffalo-bound once the World Juniors gold medal is handed out. He will return to Ottawa to play another season with the 67s.
In late October, at the Ontario Hockey League general managers meetings, it was decided that the OHL will not begin its 2021 season until February 4, 2021. Players will report to their OHL club teams by January 8 and will be expected to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival. OHL training camps will open on January 23 before a short exhibition season of one or two games January 29-31.